Recently I was reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Schirer. He relates that Germany never invaded Switzerland because the Swiss have many privately owned guns, and they feared being drawn into guerilla war with a “nation of sharpshooters”.
(Other reasons I have seen for the refusal to invade were fears over the safety of strategic tunnels, and the apparent fact that Swiss banks and other institutions were a valuable convenience, but this is not my main point).
In all the debates over the meaning of the Second Amendment, I have rarely heard the initial clause of the amendment debated. Instead, 99% of the time the debate is one over whether the amendment grants individual of collective rights in the second segment.
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be
infringed.
Has the Second Amendment ever prevented or thwarted an invasion of America? In the War of 1812 for instance, did the fact that the American population was armed prevent a British reconquest? America and Britain (via Canada) had several subsequent threats of war in the 19th century. Was there ever an instance where a country’s plans to invade the United States (including hypothetical plans during the World Wars and Cold War) took into account American private arsenals?