Was the second amendment intended to secure individual gun ownership rights? I decided to look into the issue myself instead of reading the viewpoints of others since they could be shading the evidence. I read the most relevant Federalist paper.
I read some original state constitutions, several of which are explicit in guaranteeing private ownership rights. Here's a selection:
Pennsylvania: § 21. Right to bear arms. The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.
Ohio: The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.
Georgia: Paragraph VIII. Arms, right to keep and bear. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but the General Assembly shall have power to prescribe the manner in which arms may be borne.
Virginia: Section 13. Militia; standing armies; military subordinate to civil power. That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
I read about the House discussion on the draft amendment. It contains a great deal of original info, but its viewpoint seems like it might be skewed in its emphasis on the Quaker issue. Here's a long article on early gun laws because that can show what they considered acceptable way back then. Yes, there were restrictions on crazy people.
My current guess as of late summer of 2023? (Yes, there was a long delay in publishing this.) The second amendment is mostly about militias, and how every state could and should have one, and they are to be militias of the populace at large. As for limitations on gun rights, that was like many issues--up to the individual state to decide.
Extras. Massachusetts gun rights discussion.
Update 6/24/24. This article discusses in detail the SCOTUS decision allowing restrictions based on laws from 1800 and prior, if the laws are similar in these times.
