The All-American Gun
Date: Mar 21, 2007 3:57 PM
The All-American Gun

by John R. Lott, <[email protected]>; Jr.

http://www.lewrockw <http://www.lewrockwell.com/lott/lott50.html>;
ell.com/lott/lott50.html

http://www.amazon.com/Armed-America-Remarkable-Became American/dp/159555069
0/lewrockwell/> Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns
Became as American as Apple Pie, By Clayton Cramer, Nelson, 320 pages,
$26.99

Did you know that in New York City, through 1969 virtually all the public
high schools had riflery teams?

Thousands of students carried their rifles on subways, buses and streets on
their way to school, when they went to practice in the afternoon and on
their way home. And until 1963, all commercial pilots were required to carry
guns and were allowed to carry guns until 1987.Gun laws have certainly
changed over time.

Today towns such as Kennesaw, Ga., Greenfeld, Idaho and Geuda Springs,
Kan., which all require residents to own guns, are considered the oddity.
But Clayton Cramer’s terrific new book, “Armed America,” shows that,
in
fact, gun ownership has been deeply woven into this country’s history since
the colonial period.

Cramer shows that guns aren’t inherently the problem. In our day, criminals
may have replaced Indians as a danger facing most citizens, but it may also
shock many readers to learn how comfortable Americans once were with their
guns. In colonial times, as Cramer argues, people didn’t own guns just for
hunting. Numerous laws mandated that people have guns for personal defense
and defense of the community, at home, while traveling and even in church.

Heads of households, whether men or women, were required to have a gun at
home and fines of up to a month’s wages were imposed on those who failed to
meet this requirement. In some states such as Maryland, fines were paid
directly to inspectors so that authorities had a strong incentive to check.
The only people exempt from these rules were Quakers, some indentured
servants, or, in the South, blacks.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895261146/lewrockwell/>; Fear of
attack by Indians and England’s European enemies meant that people were
required to own and carry guns when traveling, though sometimes older people
were exempted.

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail//0226493644/lewrockwell/>;
At
least six colonies required people have guns with them at church. Church
officials were required to check parishioners when they arrived for services
to ensure they had a gun. Clergymen were required to have guns, too.
Contrast that with the political firestorms that erupt these days when
states merely let churches decide whether concealed handgun permit holders
can carry guns on church property. In our day, only about 45 percent of
households own a gun, whereas gun ownership in colonial America was much
higher, as measured by probate records. Guns were bequeathed to the next
generation in about 70 percent of cases.

The fascinating firsthand historical accounts that Cramer provides indicate
that guns were cheap, readily available and essentially everywhere. Given
America’s historical amnesia, Cramer’s book helps to remind us about that
part of our history many now find improbable.

_____

This article was originally published Sunday, March 11, 2007, in the New
York Post.

March 12, 2007

John Lott a resident scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute, is the author of
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895261146/lewrockwell/>; The Bias
Against Guns (Regnery 2003).

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !