Origins of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Rutherford’s ‘Lex, Rex’

One way a well-ordered society preserved a proper balance of power was ensuring that government did not have all the weapons: “To denude the people of armour because they may abuse the prince, is to expose them to violence and oppression, unjustly; for one king may more easily abuse armour than all the people; one man may more easily fail than a community.” (Rutherford was using “armour” in the older sense, by which “arms” and “armour” were interchangeable.) On the final page of “Lex, Rex,” Rutherford stated that the “public magazine, militia, armour, forts, and strongholds” did technically belong to the king, but only in the sense that he was the trustee to see that they “be employed for the safety of the kingdom.” The true owner of the militia, the weapons and the forts was the people. …Read the Rest

Source:: NRA-ILA