I think most people are fairly bemused and mystified by the constitutional protection against the government billeting troops in your home. Standing armies are the norm these days and barracks are taken for granted, so it seems somewhat antiquated. In addition, even if there were some emergency and the government needed to temporarily house some troops somewhere, most people wouldn't see any real danger in that prospect, just maybe mild annoyance at the intrusion. The following example shows how the housing of troops can be used as a weapon by the government against unpopular minorities. At one point in France's history there was a sizeable protestant minority called the Hugenots. Since the late 1500s they had been granted legal equality by the crown and religious protection, but with the ascension of Louis XIV (the sun king) to the throne in 1643, the edict of Nantes was revoked and they were actively persecuted by the crown in order to create national unity. One method of persecution is the abovementioned dragonnading. Dragoons (mounted infantry) would be billetted in homes of protestants with the tacit understanding that they were to abuse the inhabitants, destroy their property, steal their valuables and generally drive them out of their own home. Catholics were legally exempt from this practice, so it acted as a dual pressure to convince the Hugenots to convert. The majority of those who refused as a matter of conscience, left the country as refugees, settling in England, the Netherlands, protestant German states or the French Colonies. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonnades