State Constitutions on the Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Not surprisingly, many of the provisions contained in the Bill of Rights were present, in one form or another, in the state constitutions in effect at the time the Constitution was ratified; various ancestors of the Second Amendment can be readily discerned in these documents. The state constitutions adopted before the Constitution and Bill of Rights can help tell us what meaning "the right to keep and bear arms" had in the political vocabulary of the men who wrote, debated, and ratified these documents.

Pennsylvania's 1776 constitution declared: "That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the state...". 

Vermont's constitutions of 1777 and 1786 similarly proclaimed: "That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State...

South Carolina's 1776 constitution, which combines elements of both the American Declaration of Independence and a state charter, contains the telling claim:

Hostilities having been commenced in the Massachusetts Bay, by the troops under command of General Gage, whereby a number of peaceable, helpless, and unarmed people were wantonly robbed and murdered... The colonists were therefore driven to the necessity of taking up arms, to repel force by force, and to defend themselves and their properties against lawless invasions and depredations.

This isn't a statement of a right to keep and bear arms, but it certainly suggests that an individual being "unarmed" was undesirable, and "taking up arms, to repel force by force" was considered an appropriate response. Jefferson stated clearly that, while there is always a possible downside to firearms, it could not compare to being unarmed.

Similarly, the North Carolina Constitution of 1776 guarantees the people's "right to bear arms, for the defence of the State".

New York's 1777 State Constitution is an interesting case. It contains no guarantee of an individual right to keep and bear arms -- but contains an interesting obligation:

And whereas it is of the utmost importance to the safety of every State that it should always be in a condition of defence; and it is the duty of every man who enjoys the protection of society to be prepared and willing to defend it; this convention therefore, in the name and by the authority of the good people of this State, doth ordain, determine, and declare that the militia of this State, at all times hereafter, as well in peace as in war, shall be armed and disciplined, and in readiness for service... And that a proper magazine of warlike stores, proportionate to the number of inhabitants, be, forever hereafter, at the expense of this State, and by acts of the legislature, established, maintained, and continued in every county in this State. The "duty of every man" included personal defense of the State; even conscientious objectors were obligated to pay for a substitute for their militia duties. The "militia of this State, at all times hereafter... shall be armed and disciplined, and in readiness for service..." strongly suggests that New York intended a citizen's militia along the lines of the Swiss model.

Sentiments expressed by Richard Henry Lee , James Madison, Noah Webster  , and Tench Coxe, it would appear that, in the words of Patrick Henry, "The great object is, that every man be armed... Every one who is able may have a gun."

In the formative period of American history (1789-1845), there are a total of fifteen constitutions, adopted by nine states, one territory, and one independent nation (the Republic of Texas) that contain a "right to bear arms in defense of himself and the State", or some slight variant. Because these provisions specify "in defense of himself", it is unambiguous that the right protected in each case is individual. These must be considered as evidence for the individualist school, since the language used is similar to, and doubtless borrowed from, the Second Amendment.

Thomas Jefferson crafted the Amendments which became our Bill of Rights. He submitted them to Madison, who was somewhat skeptical. However, when learning of his mentor’s reasoning, he submitted them willingly. Jefferson submitted the language in the Virginia Constitution already. Jefferson wrote:

wrote:

“Nor can they be constrained to it by any force he can possess…ready organized for action by their governor, constitutionally the commander of the militia of the State, that is to say, of every man in it able to bear arms; and that militia too, regularly formed into regiments and battalions, into infantry, cavalry and artillery.”

This is the precedent for the 2^nd Amendment. The right to keep and bear arms is an individual right, as are the other Amendments in the Bill of Rights. These rights are not to be abridged.

These are but some of the examples. I have a clear understanding of my 2A Right. It seems some have no clear understanding of much of nothing.

It ain't about ducks!