Not true. Many privateers were owned by citizens and manned by citizens. http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/privateers.html
You are still not giving the distincting due between citizens as individuals being protected from governmental tyranny, and vessels (whether privately owned or not) being hired to prosecute war.
I think he meant they were looking for ANY privateers, rather than citizens specifically.
However, the very fact that "citizens" are INCLUDED as a sub-set of "privateers", who could be from other places, means surely it was OK for our own citizens to have "big arms"/ordnance.