WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

Eugene Volokh has written a good survey of early American state constitutional laws about the right to bear arms and the ones around the time of the founding are instructive:

1776 North Carolina: That the people have a right to bear arms, for
the defence of the State; and as standing armies, in time of peace,
are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that
the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and
governed by the civil power.
1776 Pennsylvania: That the people have a right to bear arms for the
defence of themselves and the state; and as standing armies in the
time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept
up; And that the military should be kept under strict
subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
1777 Vermont: That the people have a right to bear arms for the
defence of themselves and the State—and as standing armies in time
of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up;
and that the military should be kept under strict subordination
to and governed by the civil power.
1780 Massachusetts: The people have a right to keep and to bear
arms for the common defence. And as, in time of peace, armies are
dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be maintained without
the consent of the legislature; and the military power shall
always be held in an exact subordination to the civil authority,
and be governed by it.

Three early state constitutions declare the need of arms to "defend the State,"  NOT, as conservatives wackos suggest, to defend the citizens against the state. Also note the fear all four express about a standing army, something the "constitutional conservatives" never mention.