The right of ordinary citizens to possess weapons is the most extraordinary, most controversial, and least understood of those liberties secured by Englishmen and bequeathed to their American colonists. It lies at the very heart of the relationship between the individual and his fellows, and between the individual and his government.

To Keep and Bear Arms: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right (ed. Harvard University Press, 1996) - ISBN: 9780674893078