I have always been at a loss to follow the line of thought that extends the guarantee [of the right to keep and bear arms] to the right to carry pistols... and those other weapons of like character, which, as all admit, are the greatest nuisances of our day

—upholding prohibition on carrying weapons "to any court of justice... or any place of public worship, or any other public gathering... except militia muster grounds

In what manner the right to keep and bear these pests of society [dirks, bowie knives, and the like], can encourage or secure the existence of a militia, and especially of a well regulated militia, I am not able to divine

The word `arms,'evidently means the arms of a militiaman, the weapons ordinarily used in battle, to-wit: guns of every kind, swords, bayonets, horseman's pistols, etc. The very words, `bear arms,'had then and now have, a technical meaning. The `arms bearing'part of a people, were its men fit for service on the field of battle

Further, much as they had during the period before the Civil War, state courts routinely upheld such restrictions.

—it held constitutional a statute prohibiting the carrying of weapons in a court of justice: "The preservation of the public peace, and the protection of the people against violence, are constitutional duties of the legislature, and the guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms is to be understood and construed in connection and in harmony, with these constitutional duties."

—the Georgia Supreme Court stated that "carrying arms at courts, elections and places of worship, etc., is a thing so improper in itself, so shocking to all sense of propriety, so wholly useless and full of evil, that it would be strange if the framers of the constitution have used words broad enough to give it a constitutional guarantee."

Historically, when considering challenges to the ban of dangerous and unusual weapons under the Second Amendment or equivalent State statutes, courts have asked whether the weapon in question is unusual by ascertaining if it is a weapon of warfare to be used by the militia.

A] lthough [the right keep and bear arms for the common defence] must be inviolably preserved,... it does not follow that the Legislature is prohibited altogether from passing laws regulating the manner in which these arms may be employed

The manner of bearing arms includes not only the particular way they may be carried upon the person, that is openly or secretly, on the shoulder or in the hand, loaded or unloaded, cocked or uncocked, capped or uncapped, but it includes, also, the time when, and the place where, they may be borne