virginia was one of the first colonies to adopt a state constitution. they included the words: "a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free state." other states followed with similar wording in their own constitutions. pennsylvania declared: "the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the state; and as standing armies in the time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power."