There was a time in American history when playing "cowboys and Indians" with a toy revolver was part of everyday life for young boys and girls. It wasn`t about violence. It was about embodying the frontier spirit: bravery, protecting the innocent, and standing up for what is right.

Photo: July 1950
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#capguns #boysandtoyguns #1950skids #cowboygames #frontierspirit ...

It "was Patrick Henry who, in the Virginia convention, expounded most thoroughly the dual rights to arms and resistance to oppression: `Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.`

"Fearful of the power of Congress over both a standing army and the militia, Henry asked, `Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defence, the militia, is put into the hands of Congress?` Furthermore, `of what service would militia be to you when, most probably, you will not have a single musket in the state? for, as arms are to be provided by Congress, they may or may not furnish them.`..."

From Halbrook, That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right, pgs. 73-74.

Both a lawyer and politician, Patrick Henry was born on this date in 1736. He is probably best known for his impassioned "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech (1775).

Photo: Patrick Henry statue on George Washington monument at Virginia State Capitol (Richmond, VA).
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#patrickhenry #foundingfathers #armedresistance #standingarmy #thateverymanbearmed ...

"O`Neill v. State (1849), a decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, reversed a conviction for an affray in which the apparently unarmed defendant rode up to the witness and called him a `thief, liar, rascal, &c., whereupon the witness caned him,` but the defendant did not resist other than `to throw up his hands to protect his head....` The court held that quarrelsome words did not constitute an affray, adding in dictum: `It is probable, however, that if persons arm themselves with deadly or unusual weapons for the purpose of an affray, and in such manner as to strike terror to the people, they may be guilty of this offence, without coming to actual blows.`"

From Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, pgs. 217-218 (hardback edition).
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#affray #therighttobeararmshalbrook #caneattack #1849 #striketerror ...

"British member of Parliament William Gerard Hamilton, who opposed taxing the American colonies, warned in 1767 about the colonists:

" `There are, in the different provinces, about a million of people, which we may suppose at least 200,000 men able to bear arms; and not only able to bear arms, but having arms in their possession, unrestrained by any iniquitous Game Act. In the Massachusetts government particularly, there is an express law, by which every man is obliged to have a musket, a pound of powder, and a pound of bullets by him….`

"Such warnings would not be heeded. British occupation forces would come, and the American colonists would react by arming themselves all the more."

From Halbrook, America`s Rifle: The Case for the AR-15, p. 94.

Image: "Soldier - American Frontier Rifleman" by Gerry Embleton
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#colonialamerica #2ahistory #armedpopulace #AmericasRifleTheCaseForTheAR15 #thebritisharecoming ...

"The Virginia General Assembly apparently doesn`t want to be outdone by California and the few other outlier states testing the Supreme Court to see if it really means it, as it stated in Heller, that the Second Amendment protects (at a minimum) "arms `in common use at the time` for lawful purposes like self-defense." Virginia enacted HB 217/SB 749, effective July 1, making the transfer or purchase of an "assault firearm" (defined to include popular semiauto firearms) and magazines holding over 15 rounds a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by incarceration for one year. A second offense makes it unlawful to possess any firearm for three years.

"In signing the bill on May 14, Governor Abigail Spanberger stated: "While the General Assembly chose not to adopt my amendment that specifically carves out certain firearms frequently used for hunting, I will work with the patrons to clarify this language." The governor is correct to concede a point that will be used in litigation challenging the new law, as the Virginia Constitution protects the right to hunt. I explain the origins of that recognition in "The Constitutional Right to Hunt: New Recognition of an Old Liberty in Virginia," published in William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal (2010).

"But the governor ignores that the banned firearms are also "frequently used" for training, target practice, and self-defense. Besides being protected by the federal Second Amendment, the banned firearms are guaranteed under the Virginia Constitution...."
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"Three lawsuits have already been filed seeking to have the gun ban declared unconstitutional and enjoined...."

The above excerpts are from my latest Second Amendment Roundup blogpost, "Virginia Bans `Assault Firearms`" (5/24/26).
Read my whole post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste this link: https://reason.com/volokh/2026/05/24/second-amendment-roundup-virginia-bans-assault-firearms/

Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#virginiagunban #2aviolation #stephenhalbrook #secondamendmentroundup #abigailspanberger ...

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day set aside to honor the American service members who died while serving in the military.

Originally called Decoration Day, the observance was established by Civil War veterans in 1868 as a time to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers. Communities across the country participated, honoring both Union and Confederate dead in the years following the war.

After World War I, the meaning of the day expanded to remember all Americans who died in military service. The red poppy later became a symbol of remembrance, inspired by the famous World War I poem In Flanders Fields.

Decoration Day eventually became known as Memorial Day and was officially recognized as a federal holiday in 1971.

Photo: Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day
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#memorialday🇺🇸 #decorationday #rememberfallensoldiers #supportourtroops #redpoppyremembrance ...

Henri Guisan "was a full-time colonel from the French-speaking part of the country. He was bilingual and commanded a German-speaking army corps before commanding a French-speaking corps." On August 30, [1939], anticipating that general war was imminent, the Swiss Parliament unanimously elected Colonel Henri Guisan as commander-in-chief of the army....Reflecting the country`s anti-militarist tradition, in peacetime the highest rank in the army was colonel, but in wartime Parliament was empowered to elect the commander-in-chief, with the rank of general....

"As general, Guisan would represent the ordinary citizen-at-arms. During the course of the war, this common man and inspirational military leader would come to symbolize the Swiss spirit of resistance."

From Halbrook, Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II, pgs. 59, 76.

Photos: General Guisan and his FN Browning Model 1906 pistol. The pistol is on display at the Morges Military Museum, located inside the historic Château de Morges within the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland.
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#generalguisan #Switzerlandhistory #armedneutrality #ww2history #targetswitzerland ...

"Referring to `the natural right of self-defense,` Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws (1748) asked, `Who does not see that self-defense is a duty superior to every precept?` ....

"Criminal laws that interfered with self-defense by punishing harmless conduct would be doubly unreasonable. `It is unreasonable ... to oblige a man not to attempt the defense of his own life.` The misuse of arms for aggressive violence, rather than their use in self-defense, should be punished: `Hence it follows, that the laws of an Italian republic [Venice], where bearing fire-arms is punished as a capital crime and where it is not more fatal to make an ill use of them than to carry them, is not agreeable to the nature of things.`"

From Halbrook, That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right, p. 34.

Image: Smith & Wesson print advertisement (circa 1907-1910).
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#montesquieu #bearingarms #capitalcrime #thateverymanbearmed #smithandwessonad ...