The Telegraph – by Robert Tait
America’s fierce debate over gun control usually takes place against the backdrop of the second amendment of the US constitution – seen as enshrining the rights of all citizens to bear arms.
Now a different precedent is being cited by advocates of tougher restrictions – a 700-year-old English law dating back to before guns had even been seen in Britain.
Lawyers fighting a challenge to limitations on who is allowed to carry concealed weapons on the streets of Washington will point to a law passed in 1328 during the reign of King Edward III when the case comes before a federal appeals court on Friday.
The law strengthened a statute passed more than 40 years earlier making it a crime “to be found going or wandering about the Streets of [London], after Curfew…with Sword or Buckler, or other Arms for doing Mischief”
At stake is the definition of who is allowed a permit to carry concealed handguns outside their homes. Washington DC and nine states grant such permits only to those who can show they have a specific need – because, for example, they have been threatened with violence.
The regulation is being challenged by pro-gun advocates, who argue that it breaches Americans’ second amendment rights.
The pro-gun ownership plaintiffs are citing an English legal precedent of their own – the 1686 acquittal by a jury of Sir John Knight after he stood trial accused of taking a gun to a Bristol church “to terrify the King’s subjects”.
A legal brief insists that the verdict proves the 1328 law was not intended to be broadly applied.
The case comes amid heightened controversy over US gun control laws following a spate of high profile mass shooting around the country. Last Friday’s attack on Paris by the Islamic State ofr Iraq and Syria has also generated renewed support, from Republicans as well as Democrats, for legislation tabled last February that would give the US attorney general power to ban gun sales to anyone suspected of terrorism-related activity.
Legal experts say both sides are harking back to ancient historical precedents in the expectation that the case may end up with the US Supreme Court.
The court previously struck down Washington’s blanket ban on handguns in 2008 in a ruling decreeing that citizens have the right under the second amendment to keep weapons in their homes.
NRA Gathers In Houston For 2013 Annual Meeting…HOUSTON, TX – MAY 04: An young attendee inspects an assault rifle during the 2013 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 4, 2013 in Houston, Texas. More than 70,000 peope are expected to attend the NRA’s 3-day annual meeting that features nearly 550 exhibitors, gun trade show and a political rally. The show runs from May 3-5.
The resort to English legal precedent is perhaps less surprising than it first appears. The second amendment is widely believed to have been based on the right to bear arms accorded under English common law and to have been influenced by the 1689 English Bill of Rights.
“will point to a law passed in 1328”
Now the joos have gone over the edge. Unfrigginbelieveable…
Isn’t there some caveman statutes that could apply you f**kwits???
Wow, didn’t colonists bleed and die to leave English law behind? Those who wish to live under English law are free to go back.
“Don’t you goyum get it? We’re takin’ your guns. We’re the people that want you dead. So, give me your gun so I can shoot you with it.”
My Fellow Patriots:
Next Up: Cave Paintings!!!!!,…. as “proof” that you should not have rocks, spears,… or guns!!!!
Yes, yes, yes,….. Thock,…. in 10,820 BC, the first lawyer in human history, clearly grunted, …and spewed hand prints on a cave wall, which CLEARLY shows that this was the first law banning regular, everyday cavemen from owning the right to Bear Rocks and Spears.
This cave painting has never been repealed,… so I guess that means to this day, that no one is allowed to any kind of weapon!
YEAH!!!!,… I’ll Buy That!!!!
JD – US Marines – Remember people,.. Henry and I have warned our listeners,…. a gizzillion times,… its only going to get weirder and weirder as we approach D-Day.
.
I knew someone would find precedent JD…. 😀
This isn’t Britain, so tote your merry ass over there and peddle your shit. We aren’t buying.
wow…. they’re really grasping at straws to come up with this nonsense.
It may be an interesting topic for historians to debate, but whatever happened, or what was said in 17th century England has absolutely no bearing on this country or it’s laws.
It’s really laughable that they’d even resort to this act of desperation, because what it proves is that they have no legitimate argument whatsoever, and if the supreme court were to even consider this angle, they should be hanged that same day.
All right, this is getting real funny. Never put anything past these terrorists.
You guys don’t give them any ideas as to the cavemen, they will use it.
“The second amendment is widely believed to have been based on the right to bear arms accorded under English common law and to have been influenced by the 1689 English Bill of Rights.”
This is laughable. It is based on every thing on this planet from plants to animals who DEFEND themselves and their young/homes/territory from attack.
Watch a mother bird defend her nest, walk into a bear with cubs, a hornets nest, some plants are poisonous (Ivy/Oak), other have thorns, etc this is bs and a (another) lie. THAT is why it is a natural right to defend oneself, family, others, property.
But you can not site a law that helps you dated before the U. S. Bankruptcy in 1933.
“to be found going or wandering about the Streets of [London], after Curfew…”
The key word here is CURFEW. If there is a curfew then the city is under martial law. This ‘law’ was passed during a martial law event not normal times.