First read this in the 1950s; it is oddly apropos to this article.
Book review of The Weapon Shops of Isher: One of his classics that I had not previously read is The Weapon Shops of Isher. I finally got around to reading it now because it deals with the issue of the right to bear arms, which is so topical right now, particularly where I live, only a few miles from Columbine High School. In this novel, the eponymous weapon shops all bear the slogan, "The right to buy weapons is the right to be free."
In the distant future, the world has been unified under the empire of Isher, ruled by the young but ruthless Empress Innelda Isher. The only check on the power of the empress is the existence of the impervious weapon shops, which provide defensive weapons to ordinary citizens. [snip]
A. E. van Vogt: The Weapon Shops of Isher
