“The ultimate authority … resides in the people alone. … [T]he advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation … forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any…”.  – James Madison (1788)

By these words alone, it should be abundantly clear that the right to bear arms is seen as fundamental to the protection of the rights of man (all men and all women) given to us by God and not government.  It is not meant to something restricted to any militia or national guard but to each citizen within reason.  By within reason, I mean, as did our Founders, those who are not otherwise prohibited to do so due to some reason such as mental instability, et al.

Anyone questioning this as the original premise on which our Founders agreed should consult the notes from the Constitutional Convention.  In these, should anyone which to inquire, detailed discussion of this right is found and the deliberations show that each and every word was fairly carefully scrutinized.  Our Founders did indeed intend us to have the wherewithal to withstand government’s propensity toward become tyrannical.