It was during the eighteenth century - a period of boastful satisfaction with the nice balances within the English constitution - that Englishmen came to accept the Whig view of the utility of an armed citizenry. The armed citizen was not only affirmed to be protecting himself but, together with his fellows, provided the ultimate check on tyranny.

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