Arguments over gun control often focus on interpretations of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads: “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.” Many commentators attempt to interpret the amendment’s meaning by speculating about what the Founding Fathers’ views were on private gun ownership.

Defenders of gun ownership claim that the Founders viewed privately owned guns as protection against government tyranny. They quote such notables as Thomas Jefferson, who wrote, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” Daniel D. Polsby, writing in Reason magazine, argues that “no ambiguity at all surrounds the attitude of the constitutional generation concerning ‘the right of the people to keep...