The individual states inherited common law regarding many crimes from their colonial days and from England (or France).
Murder was a crime everywhere both before and after the ratification of the Constitution. (Slaves excepted ??)
The penalties for murder no doubt varied. The Bill of Rights established limits on abusive practices but in no way suggested that murderers were to be allowed to continue pursuing happiness after conviction.
"That’s easier perhaps since many believe it’s limited to what [arms] can be born."
Many may believe that but I can't imagine where they got such an idea.
Let's suppose that we have a constitutional right to "raise and eat carrots". Does that mean that we can only eat carrots that we raise? Does that mean that we can only raise carrots that we eat? I don't think so. We have a right to keep arms and we have a right to bear arms. By extension we have a right to buy arms, sell arms, manufacture arms, trade arms, train with arms, clean arms, and just about anything else that would make arms useful.
Also, where do people come up with the idea that "arms" are only things that can be born. Did none of you live through the SALT negotiations with the Soviets; you know, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty? "Arms" in this case being high-altitude long-range bombers carrying nuclear weapons.
You must be careful not to recycle nonsense from anti-gun liberals.
Regarding your first three paragraphs, I don’t see any of that changes what I wrote.
“Let’s suppose that we have a constitutional right to “raise and eat carrots”. Does that mean that we can only eat carrots that we raise? Does that mean that we can only raise carrots that we eat?”
That is the problem. What does “the right to raise and eat carrots” mean? If I don’t have the ability to raise carrots myself, may I on my own authority go pull up some of yours and eat them since I have a right to eat carrots? May I on my own authority use some of your land, seeds, and equipment to raise carrots since I have a right to raise carrots? What is the extent, the scope, of “the right to raise and eat carrots” or of “the right of the people to keep and bear arms”.
“I don’t think so.”
“You must be careful not to recycle nonsense from anti-gun liberals. “
You’re welcome to your thinking but everyone may not share it, particularly those who merely “recycle nonsense from anti-gun liberals”. And I don’t want to “recycle nonsense from anti-gun liberals”. I want to counter it with good sense. Hard core anti-gun liberals won’t be changed, they’re more about control than guns, but there are a lot of people who are not hard core anti-gun or pro-gun, people who just don’t know any better, people whom the hard core on either side need in order to prevail. We need to provide them with good sense, correct thinking, bring them to our side, at least in sufficient numbers so that we can prevail.