Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Jay`s 1794 Treaty between Great Britain and U.S. defines the term “arms’ of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution of only 3 years earlier and lists them each by name:
“Jay’s Treaty — 1794
Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation
Concluded November 19, 1794; ratification advised by the senate with amendment June 24, 1795; ratified by the President; ratifications exchanged October 28, 1795; proclaimed February 29, 1796
“ARTICLE XVIII.
In order to regulate what is in future to be esteemed contraband of war,
it is agreed that under the said denomination shall be comprised all arms and implements serving for the purposes of war, by land or sea, such as cannon, muskets, mortars, petards, bombs, grenades, carcasses, saucisses, carriages for cannon, musketrests, bandoliers, gunpowder, match, saltpetre, ball, pikes, swords, headpieces, cuirasses, halberts, lances, javelins, horsefurniture, holsters, belts, and generally all other
implements of war,”
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/jaytreaty/text.html
I know my saddle is heavy, and has a scabbard, but I never figured it as an arm.
/johnny