Abstract
In the debate over the meaning of the right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment, some writers have argued that the prohibition in the 1328 English Statute of Northampton on "going armed" referred to carrying weapons, thus purportedly showing that regulation of carrying weapons was well known and established when the Second Amendment was adopted. For the first time, this Article reveals, through a thorough analysis of medieval royal proclamations and acts of parliament, well-regarded legal treatises, literature of the time, and English case law, that "going armed" did not refer to carrying weapons, but rather to wearing armor. Accordingly, the Statute of Northampton does not show that regulation of carrying weapons was established at the time of the adoption of the Second Amendment.
Recommended Citation
Richard E. Gardiner,
The True Meaning of "Going Armed" in the Statute of Northampton: A Response to Patrick J. Charles,
71 Clev. St. L. Rev.
947
(2023)
available at https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevstlrev/vol71/iss4/5