So I am going to share a link to past questions I answered on this subject because that'll make the most sense, which you can find here. Essentially, there wasn't any widespread laws to govern firearms or firearm safety during this period in early American history (1776 - 1803). At the time, the gentry was more concerned with armed uprisings happening in rural America and needed provisions in federal and state constitutions to protect their ability to summon militias since the US lacked a standing army. A more detailed answer can be found in the link above.

Would people be surprised about our modern regulations?

It's impossible to answer such a question. I'm not trying to be dismissive, but it is literally impossible. Our lives, morals, and experiences are so vastly different from them that it's impossible to answer.

Please let me know if you have follow up questions

/u/uncovered-history has pointed to the very early period, so I would just briefly touch on the latter end of the 'Early Republic' and Antebellum period with a book recommendation. Clayton Cramer wrote a book covering this period and, if the title "Concealed Weapon Laws of the Early Republic" isn't something of a give away, as demonstrated there, the early laws concerning the regulation of firearms on the United States were often banning the practice of concealing a weapon on your person (as opposed to carrying it openly). These laws were passed in a number of states in the span between 1813 and 1839, and Cramer analyses the social and cultural situations in which they were passed, and the legislative debates surrounding them. To be sure, he is coming at it from a somewhat partisan angle (he leans 'pro-gun'), but he separates his own positions from his historical inquiries as best as you can hope for, so whichever position you take, it is still one of the few books I know of which looks at this specific aspect of early firearms law in the country, so if you're interested in the topic, I would recommend it.