Strongly desires constituents to bear arms, they say, in these (7)

I believe the answer is:

thirsts

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'strongly desires' is the definition.
'thirsts' can be an answer for 'desires' (thirsting is a kind of desiring). I'm unsure of the 'strongly' bit.

I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thirsts that I've seen before include "Hungers!" , "needs water" , "Cravings" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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