Reply #22: Yes and it qualifies that as a "free state". The phrase "free state" [View All]

[jody]

is singular not plural and is used in a number of state constitutions adopted before the US constitution was written, e.g. Virginia`s constitution, 29 June 1776
QUOTE
SEC. 13. That 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; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. {emphasis added}
UNQUOTE

The states were sovereign under the Articles of Confederation and they did not give up their right to maintain state militias when they ratified the US Constitution. The phrase "free state" in the Second Amendment means the same as it does in Virginia's constitution until someone proves otherwise.