Events of October 1859 changed people's thinking almost immediately. John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry had the same impact on Southern citizens of that day as events of Sept. 11, 2001, had on us. Governors addressed state legislatures concerning impeding threat of other such raids by abolition-minded jihadists. Leaders recognized that the old militia system and the variety of odd weapons available from private citizens and local armories were insufficent to deal with determined terrorists with access to modern firearms.
Most volunteer companies which entered Confederate service in early 1861 had been organized in response to the threat posed by John Brown and others like him. Perhaps someone has done a study of the first Confederate volunteers from Tennessee and their antebellum origins.