[Ken H]

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms” means, I think, that the people have the right to maintain an armed force, an army, on whatever scale.

Does it also mean an individual right?

[dr_lew]

As I indicated, I think the individual right to own firearms was assumed, and was not among the enumerated rights in the Bill of Rights. That this is the case may be felt by reading the Federalist Papers, with special consideration for the various scenarios considered for contention among the states, as established at that time.

The tenor of these is very much a "Wild West" scenario, and the arguments presented are based on the idea that a strong union is required to prevent absolute mayhem among these states. The reassurance is given, in The Federalist 9, that:

The proposed Constitution, so far from implying an abolition of the State governments, makes them constituent parts of the national sovereignty, by allowing them a direct representation in the Senate, and leaves in their possession certain exclusive and very important portions of sovereign power. This fully corresponds, in every rational import of the terms, with the idea of a federal government.

So, I'm just saying that the idea of a federal government empowered to DISARM the entire populace was very far outside the boundaries of the thinking of the Founders.