When the Bill of Rights was drafted, the 2nd Amendment was added to allow state governments to form armed militias. In 2008 Supreme Court justices raised on Western movies decided that the Constitution guarantees firearms to individual gunslingers, not just well-regulated militias.
The military firearms known to the Founding Fathers were single-shot, muzzle-loading muskets that could fire slow-moving lead balls 2 or 3 times a minute, at best, with accuracy up to about 60 yards. Even if the framers had conferred military gun ownership as an individual right, they could never have envisioned weapons that hold 30-round magazines and fire 45 aimed rounds a minute at 3,500 feet per second with 600 yard accuracy, like the rifles favored by America’s mass murders.
More:
“What ‘arms’ looked like when the 2nd Amendment was written,” Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post
Related:
“Omar Mateen Had a ‘Modern Sporting Rifle,’” Justin Peters, Slate
“This Is the Assault Rifle Used by the Orlando Mass Shooter,” Mark Follman, Mother Jones
“Family of AR-15 inventor: The weapon wasn’t meant for civilians,” Rebecca Savransky, The Hill
“What an AR-15 Can Do to the Human Body,” Sarah Zhang, Wired
Update:
“Five types of gun laws the Founding Fathers loved,” Saul Cornell, The Conversation
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Tags: 2nd Amendment, AR-15, Armalite, assault rifles, bushmaster, Constitution, Crime, firearms, Guns, high capacity magazines, mass murder, MCX, military weapons, modern sporting rifle, MSR, tactical rifles
NotionsCapital 
January 24, 2017 at 7:38 pm
So, where do you get your info? American colonials could hit bulls eyes as far as 250 meters with the typical colonial long rifle… Also the founding fathers knew what automatic weapons were… they had revolving machine guns back then… Of course these were hardly practical but they still had them.
Also “militia” is a PRIVATE group of individuals not a STATE group… And “regulated” means well armed, trained and fed! Kind of like Switzerland… and on top of that the word regulated has nothing to do with the word ‘arms’… it is to do with the MILITIA… and it is the “RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE to keep AND bear arms” Not just keep and NO limit on what the ARMS are (be it numbchucks, machine guns or shivs)
Next time, get your crap right before you post b.s!
January 24, 2017 at 8:18 pm
“So, where do you get your info? “
Um, history. You know, non-alternative facts,
“Also the founding fathers knew what automatic weapons were…”
The Puckle Gun? Rare, inaccurate.
“Also ‘militia’ is a PRIVATE group of individuals not a STATE group… And ‘regulated’ means well armed, trained and fed!”
No. Don’t take my word for it — check Article VI of the Articles of Confederation:
“… every State shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of filed pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.”
Drafted by the 2nd Continental Congress in 1777, ratified by all states 1781.
http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/artconf.shtml
That is what the 2nd Amendment refers to, all to briefly.