Let&#x27;s get this out of the way: for practical purposes, the Second Amendment is heavily modified by legal precedent.<p>Having said that, the Constitution, including the amendments, primarily constrained the federal government. Remember that &quot;freedom of religion&quot; clause? There were at least a couple of states with an established church at the time. The ability for municipalities to restrict the bearing of arms was not much questioned until the last 50 years or so.