In an attempt to understand the spirit of the 2nd Amendment, Raw Story looked at the gun laws that existed when the founding fathers were alive. I'm no historian, so I don't have much to comment. https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/what-the-founding-fathers-actually-meant-by-the-second-amendment-might-surprise-you/
I realize this is RawStory and not an academic journal, but it's such an interesting and controversial topic that I wish they'd provided citations.
