The Constitution shall never be construed...to prevent the people
of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping
their own arms.
-- Samuel Adams
During Mass' Constitution ratification Convention, 1788
The conclusion is thus inescapable that the history concept, and
wording of the second amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, as well as its interpretation by every major commentator and
court in the first half-century after its ratification, indicates
that what is protected is an individual right of a private citizen
to own and carry firearms in a peaceful manner....