Page "Second Amendment to the United States Constitution" Paragraph 23

Which of these considerations they thought were most important, which of these considerations they were most alarmed about, and the extent to which each of these considerations ultimately found expression in the Second Amendment is disputed.

Some of these purposes were explicitly mentioned in early state constitutions ; for example, the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 asserted that, " the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the state ".