The leadership of a new America, which arose out of rebellion itself, or fearful of being called traitors and executed. That is one reason they did not establish a federal army, besides the fact they didn't have the money to fund it. If you read the second amendment in its entirety. The right for citizens to bear arms was given to the states so they could form their own well-regulated militias. It was their opinion but the states were so divided that they would never combined forces and attack the federal government. If not for that fact, the second amendment would not exist at all.