The Telegraph
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".
Debate Magazine
