| Of course not "any weapon," it repeatedly specifies "Arms," which are man-portable weapons.
As for context, that sounds an awfu lot like the tired old "The Founders can't have imagined AK-47s and rocket-launchers!" nonsense that one still hears. If we're going to limit the BoR based upon what the Founders knew, then the First Amendment only applies to quills, hand-operated printing presses, and the unamplified voice: no protection for the Internet, TV, radio, electronically or mechanically-printed books or newspapers, etc etc. |