TO KEEP & BEAR ARMS: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right | Malcom, Joyce Lee
Joyce Malcom chronicles, in excruciating detail, the history of the English population’s use and abuse of gun rights. Nearly 400 years of one King giving guns out and relying upon armed citizenship to the next King, demanding country Lords surrender or register them. Followed by the see-saw of religious preoccupation with guns - only the Catholics could have guns and then only the Protestants, followed by a reversal. Collecting guns kept a lot of English minions busy.
Over a few centuries, the expectation of arms - or guns - as a personal right hardened. Given the rampant lawlessness and cheap availability of firearms, the wise traveled armed.
Those who think our American 2nd Amendment is a collective right versus a personal right (a prima facia oddity given its inclusion in the Bill of Rights) will find a near mountain of evidence challenging their position in this densely researched tome.