The power of firearms has stirred passion over the right of the citizenry to own and bear weapons throughout western civilisation. Authored by principal legal expert on the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, That Every Man Be Armed is the authoritative book on the ideas, history, and legal precedent that the citizen's right to possess arms is as essential to democracy as is freedom of speech. That Every Man Be Armed traces the Second Amendment's origins from ancient Greece and Rome to eighteenth century France and England through the American Revolution, ratification of the Constitution and adoption of the Bill of Rights. Halbrook further traces the Amendment's significance throughout American history to current debates over gun controls, assembling a systematic interpretation of state and federal legal opinions and Supreme Court decisions. This comprehensive and lucid book reveals that the right to bear arms is an indispensable form of individual protection against both violent crime and government infringement of human liberties.