Abstract
The natural right of potential victims of crime to have a means of self-preservation (i.e., arms) has been critically analyzed by legal philosophers from the earliest times. Philosophical expositions of the concept of an armed populace surfaced in the republican vindication of defense against both crimes against humanity committed by oppressive governments and crimes against individuals perpetrated by private aggressors. However, philosophers in the authoritarian tradition have asserted that possession of weapons by private individuals encourages crime and sedition, and thus such philosophers have favored a state monopoly of the means of violence (Halbrook, 1984).
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Halbrook, S.P. (1991). Victims and Arms in Classical Legal Philosophy. In: Sank, D., Caplan, D.I. (eds) To Be a Victim. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5974-4_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5974-4_21
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