Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
Page Number: 39.0

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

33 

Opinion of the Court 

weapons like launcegays makes sense given that armor and
lances  were  generally  worn  or  carried  only  when  one  in-
tended to engage in lawful combat or—as most early viola-
tions of the Statute show—to breach the peace.  See, e.g., 
Calendar of the Close Rolls, Edward III, 1327–1330, at 402 
(July 7, 1328); id., Edward III, 1333–1337, at 695 (Aug. 18,
1336)  (1898).  Contrast  these  arms  with  daggers.    In  the 
medieval  period,  “[a]lmost  everyone  carried  a  knife  or  a 
dagger  in  his  belt.”  H.  Peterson,  Daggers  and  Fighting 
Knives of the Western World 12 (2001).  While these knives 
were used by knights in warfare, “[c]ivilians wore them for 
self-protection,”  among  other  things.  Ibid.  Respondents
point to no evidence suggesting the Statute applied to the
smaller medieval weapons that strike us as most analogous 
to modern handguns.

When handguns were introduced in England during the
Tudor and early Stuart eras, they did prompt royal efforts
at  suppression.  For  example,  Henry  VIII  issued  several 
proclamations decrying the proliferation of handguns, and 
Parliament passed several statutes restricting their posses-
sion.  See, e.g., 6 Hen. 8 c. 13, §1 (1514); 25 Hen. 8 c. 17, §1 
(1533); 33 Hen. 8 c. 6 (1541); Prohibiting Use of Handguns 
and Crossbows (Jan. 1537), in 1 Tudor Royal Proclamations
249 (P. Hughes & J. Larkin eds. 1964).  But Henry VIII’s 
displeasure  with  handguns  arose  not  primarily  from  con-
cerns about their safety but rather their inefficacy.  Henry 
VIII worried that handguns threatened Englishmen’s pro-
ficiency  with  the  longbow—a  weapon  many  believed  was
crucial to English military victories in the 1300s and 1400s, 
including the legendary English victories at Crécy and Ag-
incourt.  See  R.  Payne-Gallwey,  The  Crossbow  32,  34
(1903);  L.  Schwoerer,  Gun  Culture  in  Early  Modern  Eng-
land 54 (2016) (Schwoerer). 

Similarly,  James  I  considered  small  handguns—called 
dags—“utterly unserviceable for defence, Militarie practise, 
or  other  lawful  use.”    A  Proclamation  Against  Steelets,