The half-stocked Kentucky rifle, made by Joseph Griffith of Louisville, was donated by S.I.M. Major. KHS Collections.
In an act approved on June 27, 1792, the General Assembly ratified "certain articles in addition to and amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress to the legislatures of the several states." Kentucky, in fact, approved all twelve proposed amendments, although the first two of them were not ratified by a sufficient number of states. The remaining ten became known as the Bill of Rights. Though Kentucky was quick to approve the amendments in the first month of statehood, the Bill of Rights had been ratified nationally on December 15, 1791. Subsequently, one of the defeated proposals was approved by the requisite number of states and was declared ratified on May 7, 1992, becoming the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the Constitution.
The half-stocked Kentucky rifle, made by Joseph Griffith of Louisville, was donated by S.I.M. Major. KHS Collections.
Amendment II: “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.” An act of Congress passed May 8, 1792, authorized the states to establish a military force totaling eighty thousand from the Militia of the United States. Each state was instructed to “organize, arm and equip . . . and hold in readiness to march at a moment's warning” a proportional military force, including: Kentucky 1542, Tennessee 806, Massachusetts and Virginia over 11,000, North Carolina 7268, and Georgia 1334.
