The American Revolution against British Gun Control

davekopel.org ^ | Summer 2012 | David B. Kopel

[RoosterRedux]

This Article reviews the British gun control program that precipitated the American Revolution: the 1774 import ban on firearms and gunpowder; the 1774-75 confiscations of firearms and gunpowder; and the use of violence to effectuate the confiscations. It was these events that changed a situation of political tension into a shooting war. Each of these British abuses provides insights into the scope of the modern Second Amendment.

Furious at the December 1773 Boston Tea Party, Parliament in 1774 passed the Coercive Acts. The particular provisions of the Coercive Acts were offensive to Americans, but it was the possibility that the British might deploy the army to enforce them that primed many colonists for armed resistance. The Patriots of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, resolved: “That in the event of Great Britain attempting to force unjust laws upon us by the strength of arms, our cause we leave to heaven and our rifles.” A South Carolina newspaper essay, reprinted in Virginia, urged that any law that had to be enforced by the military was necessarily illegitimate.

The Royal Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, had forbidden town meetings from taking place more than once a year. When he dispatched the Redcoats to break up an illegal town meeting in Salem, 3000 armed Americans appeared in response, and the British retreated. Gage’s aide John Andrews explained that everyone in the area aged 16 years or older owned a gun and plenty of gunpowder.

Military rule would be difficult to impose on an armed populace. Gage had only 2,000 troops in Boston. There were thousands of armed men in Boston alone, and more in the surrounding area. One response to the problem was to deprive the Americans of gunpowder.

[RoosterRedux]

The author is Research Director, Independence Institute, and Adjunct Professor of Advanced Constitutional Law, Denver University, Sturm College of Law. This is article is adapted from How theBritish Gun Control Program Precipitated the American Revolution, 6 Charleston L. Rev. 283 (2012), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1967702.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

From the TEXAS Declaration of Independence from Mexico..

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/texdec.asp

“It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.”

THE RIGHTFUL PROPERTY OF FREEMEN! Even Texas understood it!

[Casie]

Cool stuff. Thanks for posting this RR!

[tumblindice]

“Life, liberty and sacred honor”

Fast forward 100 years

Charley Waite:”You reckon them cows worth getting killed over?”
Boss Spearman:”Cows are one thing, but one man telling another man where he can go in this country is something else.”
“Man’s got a right to protect his property and his life, and we ain’t lettin’ no rancher or his lawman take either.”

Charley Waite: “There are things that gnaw at a man worse than dying.”

Fast forward 100+ years

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Keep your powder dry.

[patriotsblood]

This should be sent to every member of Congress as a reminder of what happens when government tries to disarm a free people. We simply will not put up with it.

[Psalm 73]

Hmmm, the FIRST Revolution was brought on and precipitated by gun control laws.

Just sayin’.

[cripplecreek]

This Article reviews the British gun control program that precipitated the American Revolution.

British attempts to control weapons was only one of many things that caused the revolution. In fact it was a reaction to the growing anger over the other issues.

[deoetdoctrinae]

I'll have the chili cheese fries,
with a side of cardiac arrest.

The FReepathon is on!
Click the Pic

Donate to Free Republic before digging in!

[sawmill trash]

” One response to the problem was to deprive the Americans of gunpowder. “

Watch for some way “they” come up with to keep us from buying ammunition.
There really isn’t much they can do about the (literally) millions of guns in the hands of the American people, but they can come up with ways to keep those guns from being easily fed.

[Red Steel]

"Two days later in Virginia, royal authorities confiscated 20 barrels of gunpowder from the public magazine in Williamsburg and destroyed the public firearms there by removing their firing mechanisms. In response to complaints, manifested most visibly by the mustering of a large independent militia led by Patrick Henry, Governor Dunmore Senator Feinstein delivered a legal note promising to pay restitution."

[Perseverando]

Now Smile. Wait For IT................

Thanks to Pookie18 - Today’s Toons 1/2/2013

[Tennessee Nana]

Interesting

[RoosterRedux]

Yur welcome.:-)

I too thought it was a really fun read.

[sunny48]

British Citizens Warn U.S. – “Don’ Let Them Disarm You!”
http://youtu.be/n9ZvwPmjJu4

[TexasGunLover]

We simply will not put up with it.

You know, I've thought about that over the years, and have really hoped that Americans would stand up that way.

But when they take your wife or child, and put a gun to their head and say "turn in your guns", you'll turn them in. That's what I fear the most.

[Candor7]

[M Kehoe]

Good afternoon.

But when they take your wife or child, and put a gun to their head and say "turn in your guns", you'll turn them in.

There have been many posts from FReepers stating the same thing. Kinda depressing. I guess because most of them don't have the proper training, to wit:

When they come for your guns, and don't find them, then you ask the "official" who sent them to your house. Then you ask them additional "chain of command," questions. When you find out who it is that is at the top of their chain of command, you reacquire your weapons, ambush the official, and then take out all of his/her family and friends.

If I'm going to die anyway, may as well make a very violent, and bloody statement.

5.56mm

[sergeantdave]

“...you ask the “official” who sent them to your house.”

Good idea.

He’s making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice

[DTogo]

Lexington & Concord, the "shot heard 'round the world."

[bunkerhill7]

. BOSTONIANS BEAR ARMS

``After the Battle of Lexington, British General Thomas Gage occupied Boston, Massachusetts. After negotiating with the town committee, Gage agreed to let the inhabitants of Boston leave town with their families and effects, if they surrendered all arms. While most of the residents of Boston stayed, those who left under the agreement surrendered 1778 firearms, 634 pistols, 273 bayonets, and only 38 blunderbusses``.[14]

14^ Abiel Holmes (1829). The Annals of America, Volume II. Hillard and Brown. p. 242 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunderbuss