Here’s a Fractured Fact in American history:
Quite a few of the colonists didn’t have guns.
Try to imagine a Revolutionary War scene, or a “Last of the Mohicans”
scenario, that doesn’t include every able-bodied male walking around with a
flintlock musket or pistol.
Surely, soldiers in organized units were generally pretty well armed—although
in 1776 Gen. Washington complained to the Committee of Safety in Pennsylvania
that militiamen were reporting for duty without muskets.
Historian Thomas Verenna says colonial American probate records suggest
there were roughly only about 5.4 guns for every 10 people in 1774—gun ownership varied among the
colonies, in Pennsylvania the number was closer to 3 for 10 people..
Guns were expensive, and colonial manufacturing capabilities were
limited.
Today, a distinct minority of households have firearms. The Pew Research Center said last year that only 37% of households reported having a
gun. In 1973, the percentage was 49%.
The percentage is dropping. I think that’s a good thing.
p.s. I searched online to find an
illustration of a “Revolutionary soldier” or a “colonial patriot” without a
gun, but I couldn’t find one
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