ABSTRACT
To William Blackstone, self-defence was not only "justly called the primary law of nature", but "is not, either can it be in fact, taken away by the law of society". The great English jurist was writing in the late eighteenth century. Since the freedom to exercise any particular right alters over the years, it is useful to gauge its vitality from time to time. Firearms have been restricted in England since 1920, and handguns owned by civilians were confiscated and banned in 1998. In America, by contrast, the common law right to be armed for self-defence still stands and is, if anything, more robust than in the past. In recent years, American states have been easing their requirements for law-abiding citizens wishing to carry a concealed weapon. Blackstone's judgment that the right to self-defence has been the primary law of nature was a commonplace among philosophers and jurists from ancient times.
