A Constitutionalists scholar recently explained to me that the context of the creation of the Second Amendment clearly had nothing to do with individuals running around with their own weapons and everything to do with the balance of authorities over the militias of that time "A well regulated militia".
All the arguments to the contrary rely upon eliding not only the text of the document but its context. The argument that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to carry firearms is a modern day conception, that is to say, post Civil War.
However, there is Constitutional support for personal possession of firearms but it is not found in the Second Amendment it is found in the Ninth Amendment. And I quote:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
This is the same place in the Constitution, by the way, where one would find the "right to privacy" for example. At the time the Constitution was written there where perhaps three types of guns that one could own, a single shot handheld musket, a single shot musket rifle or perhaps a cannon.
Here in America we have taken any right we have to own a gun to the extreme!
