<P> Speaking of the Second Amendment generally, Rawle said: </P> <P> The prohibition is general . No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to congress a power to disarm the people . Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general pretence by a state legislature . But if in any blind pursuit of inordinate power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both . </P> <P> Rawle, long before the concept of incorporation was formally recognized by the courts, or Congress drafted the Fourteenth Amendment, contended that citizens could appeal to the Second Amendment should either the state or federal government attempt to disarm them . He did warn, however, that "this right (to bear arms) ought not...be abused to the disturbance of the public peace" and, paraphrasing Coke, observed: "An assemblage of persons with arms, for unlawful purpose, is an indictable offence, and even the carrying of arms abroad by a single individual, attended with circumstances giving just reason to fear that he purposes to make an unlawful use of them, would be sufficient cause to require him to give surety of the peace ." </P> <P> Joseph Story articulated in his influential Commentaries on the Constitution the orthodox view of the Second Amendment, which he viewed as the amendment's clear meaning: </P>

Who was president when the 2nd amendment was ratified