In short, they can be part of a well regulated-militia. This right to bear arms can be neither an individual nor a collective right, but is a civic right. Samuel Adams included a set of principles that played an important role in the American Constitution. In a Boston town meeting, he requested that British citizens have the right to bear arms for their own self-defense. All citizens had both a right, and an obligation to arm themselves, so they can participate in a well-regulated militia. (Cornell, 13-17).
There were three important rebellions led to the militia debate: Whiskey, Fries, and Shay's Rebellion. In my opinion, the Shay's rebellion was more important. There were a lot of unfair laws that farmers could not bypass. An armed uprising in central and west sides of Massachusetts arose because a lot of farmers were under high taxation. These farmers were not able to pay their taxes. The outcome resulting in many of them being arrested and taken to jail. Farmers, who hadn't been apprehended, started a riot, overran the courts, and helped free their fellow citizens. The government of Massachusetts organized an army to shut down the rebellion. This was known as Shay's Rebellion and it played a role in the constitutional development. This provided motivation for a drafting of the Articles of Confederation. For that reason, it became a problem to coordinate the individual state militia under an organized military, so then the problem was to figure out how to reach this goal of writing the Articles without destruction of the power of individual states and alarming the citizens who were still afraid of the State's control over the militia. (Cornell, 30-37).
The debate over gun ownership, particularly between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, was regarding both parties having to explain how the gun law would help shape the country. The Federalists supported the Constitution and the Anti-Federalists supported the States' having more power.
