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lassiter - that kinda glosses over what the real intent (as has been proven in actual supreme court cases over the last 200 years) of the 2nd amdn. really means - every case that has ever come up falls back to the right of the citizens (this was very important in the Dred Scott case as at that time the blacks were not considered "citizens") to possess arms that could be used in forming a state militia to protect the US, the people of the US from themselves - an insurgency , or against tyrannical government takeover. This has been decided in so many cases by the supreme court when it came to things like sawed-off shotguns (the court felt that these are not really military arms that could be used in a militia) and other arms that - again wouldnt be a normal military weapon.
Keep in mind that at the same time, there was no standing army - as a matter of fact that was prohibited by law - the idea was to have all male citizens between 18-50 available for an army if the need arose. It was also echoed throughout the states laws and in some cases, even more stringent.
It really was not singularly put in there for the protection against government oppression - it was there for any states' needs to protect itself.
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