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Requiring citizens to keep arms was actually quite common up until the 1800s, with some municipalities actually purchasing firearms for residents, with the exp
by donw 6y ago
Requiring citizens to keep arms was actually quite common up until the 1800s, with some municipalities actually purchasing firearms for residents, with the expectation that they would be paid back as was manageable.
- iso1210 6y agoIn which countries?
- thrower123 6y agoNearly all of them, at least up through the end of the Napoleonic Wars. I believe it became less popular with the popular revolutions of 1848 and the advent of universal conscription.
- ceejayoz 6y agoI'm not a historian, but this doesn't match my understanding; that true weapons like swords and crossbows tended to be restricted, and peasants used scythes, clubs, etc. instead. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/268dmc/how_were_sidearms_swords_knives_etc_regulated_in/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/268dmc/how_w...
- iso1210 6y agoArround 1400, the King proclaimed that "every Englishman or Irishman dwelling in England must have a bow of his own height", at one point Tennis was banned to give more time to bow practice. By 1500s every man had to buy his 7 year old son a bow and teach him how to use it, and a bow+arrows must be kept in everyones house. Crossbows on the other hand were practically banned, but this was more because a highly skilled longbowman was more deadly
- ceejayoz 6y agoThat's fairly unique to England, though, whose military power relied on longbows in a way not matched by rivals.
- donw 6y agoEngland and Switzerland come to the top of my mind, I’ll need to dig for a comprehensive list.