Not to say that the 2nd amendment, as written, isn’t totally wild.
However I do want to mention that the Continental congress was petitioned by John Belton in 1777 to purchase his 16-shot musket. It also had a not-quite-magazine that could be replaced very quickly. The 16 shots could be fired as quickly as the user could pull the triggers (yes it had multiple).
Given this, it seems likely that the people writing the constitution ten years later had some idea of rapid fire weaponry.
Just 20 years after that, they sent Lewis and Clarke expedition out with a relatively rapid firing airgun.
It is reasonable to say that rapid fire weaponry was contemporaneous to the constitution writing era.
Not to say that the 2nd amendment, as written, isn’t totally wild.
However I do want to mention that the Continental congress was petitioned by John Belton in 1777 to purchase his 16-shot musket. It also had a not-quite-magazine that could be replaced very quickly. The 16 shots could be fired as quickly as the user could pull the triggers (yes it had multiple).
Given this, it seems likely that the people writing the constitution ten years later had some idea of rapid fire weaponry.
Just 20 years after that, they sent Lewis and Clarke expedition out with a relatively rapid firing airgun.
It is reasonable to say that rapid fire weaponry was contemporaneous to the constitution writing era.