Kirsten W. Larson - The Second Amendment: The Right to Bear Arms

British and colonial troops used the Brown Bess musket during the American Revolution. It was inaccurate and hard to load. Trained men could fire four lead balls per minute.

Troops tried to take arms stored near Concord, Massachusetts. These included cannons, ammunition, gunpowder, and other supplies. On April 18, 1775, 800 Redcoats marched on Concord from Boston. Paul Revere and others rode on horseback to warn patriots that the troops were coming. The local patriot militia cut off the British at the town of Lexington, Massachusetts. The first shots of the American Revolution were fired. The Redcoats later marched to Concord. They looked for the weapons, but they had been moved. The two sides clashed again, but the British retreated.

A few days later, the British took ammunition in Williamsburg, Virginia. They seized 15 barrels of gunpowder.

Colonial militia members called Minutemen fought in the Battle of Concord.

English colonists enjoyed the right to bear arms well before the United States became a nation. The government in England had passed the English Bill of Rights in 1689. It protected many of the freedoms Americans would later spell out in the U.S. Bill of Rights. The English Bill of Rights protected the right to free speech and . It also protected the right to bear arms. English colonists had the same rights as people living in England.

When the colonies became the United States, each state wrote its own constitution. Many of the constitutions listed rights people should have. These rights often included freedom of religion. This meant people could worship as they chose. States also protected the freedom of the press. This meant people could not be punished for criticizing the government in newspapers or other writings. Several states protected the right to bear arms. They included Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.