Is Gun Ownership a Right?

[stanc]

"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials."
— George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on Ratification of the Constitution, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788

However, that is just one man's opinion. It was not (and is not) the law.

The Militia Act of 1792 (as well as 10 USC 246) makes it clear that only a small percentage of the population -- not "the whole people" -- was (and is) the militia.