That is a wide collective belief. It is especially loved by gun manufacturers because it creates a sense of personal ownership in the desire to own their products.
Do those sound like the words of men who were in it for their own benefit? Yes or no?
“A free people ought...to be armed”
―
George Washington
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
―
Thomas Jefferson
“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.”
―
Thomas Jefferson
“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
―
Thomas Jefferson,
“Disarm the people- that is the best and most effective
way to enslave them.”
―
James Madison
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
―
James Madison,
“The constitution shall never be construed...to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”
―
Alexander Hamilton
“[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”
―
James Madison
“Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that's good.”
―
George Washington
“A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves... and include all men capable of bearing arms.”
―
Richard Henry Lee