Virginia`s founders would be pretty shocked to see what`s happening within the state`s politics today. "Virginia was the first of all the colonies to adopt a bill of rights. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted in convention on June 12, 1776, held that all men "have certain inherent Rights," including "the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of...pursuing and obtaining...Safety....` Further, `a well regulated Militia, composed of the Body of the People, trained to Arms, is the proper, natural, and safe Defense of a free State....`

"George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration, a year earlier had helped George Washington organize the Fairfax Independent Militia Company to counter the royal militia. Its members pledged to `constantly keep by us` a firelock, six pounds of gunpowder, and twenty pounds of lead."

From Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, pgs. 147-148 (hardback edition).

Image: Citizen Militia 1774–1775 by Henry Alexander Ogden, commissioned by the U.S. Quartermaster Department, depicts the uniforms and equipment of America`s citizen militia on the eve of the Revolutionary War. The man in the blue coat, holding a flintlock musket, depicts a volunteer from Virginia`s Fairfax Independent Company.
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#virginiadeclarationofrights #georgemason #georgewashington #2ahistory #therighttobeararmshalbrook ...

"On September 1, 1939, Hitler launched World War II in Europe by invading Poland. For the first time, the world witnessed the tactics of blitzkrieg--lightning war--in which tanks would slice into and surround an enemy`s front and planes would swarm behind the enemy lines as mobile artillery. The Poles fought bravely, but within a week it was clear that strategic points of their front had been irreparably broken and their major units had been outmaneuvered by German armor.

"Despite the Nazi threat that had been evident for years, Poland was woefully unprepared for war. In some cases, orders to give out ammunition to riflemen or artillerymen had not been issued. In one telling incident, the commander of a unit found only enough cartridges to kill himself and his horse. Much of the Polish air force was caught by surprise and destroyed on the ground by German bombers. As the Wehrmacht closed in on Warsaw, already terror-bombed by the Luftwaffe, the Polish government surrendered. To preclude civilian resistance, the Nazis conducted house-to-house searches for arms. Persons found in possession of firearms in defiance of the invaders were executed."

From Halbrook, Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II, pgs. 77-78.

Photo source: nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/invasion-poland-september-1939

Target Switzerland is also available in the following translations:

Die Schweiz im Visier: Die bewaffnete Neutralität im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Verlage Novalis Schaffhausen/Rothenhäusler Stäfa, 1999. 2.Auflage 2000, Novalis Verlag, Schaffhausen. DOWNLOAD THIS BOOK FOR FREE ON MY WEBSITE.

La Suisse encerclée: La neutralité armée suisse durant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Editions Slatkine Genève, 2000.

La Svizzera nel mirino: La neutralità aramata della Svizzera nella seconda guerra mondiale. Coedizione Pedrazzini – Locarno/Alberti – Verbania, 2002.

Cel: Szwajcaria. Warszawa: Dom Wydawniczy Bellona, 2003.
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#WWIIhistory #invasionofpoland #Wehrmachthistory #firearmspossession #targetswitzerland ...

Continuing from yesterday`s post about Lord Percy, "At Lexington, Brigade Commander Lord Percy routed the Americans with cannon and musket fire, burning several houses to prevent militiamen from using them for cover. They dispersed the Americans sufficiently at Concord to execute search-and-seizure operations.

"The British had a map, prepared by one of their spies, showing suspected places where arms and stores were secreted, and they proceeded to search numerous farms and houses for the contraband. They discovered 500 pounds of musket balls and dumped them into the mill pond. Major Pitcairn seized and disabled a cannon, which Ephraim Jones, the town jailer and an innkeeper, had hidden; the major manhandled and threatened Jones and then ate breakfast at his inn, paying the tab. In other incidents, Concord`s women persuaded soldiers not to search certain rooms of houses where supplies were hidden. Most of the stores went undiscovered."

From Halbrook, The Founders` Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms, pgs. 77-78.

Image: "The Soldier`s Wife" by Henry E. Kidd
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#americanrevolution #thefounderssecondamendment #lexingtonandconcord #lordhughpercy #weaponssearch ...

"Lord Hugh Percy, of His Majesty`s forces,...wrote a letter on September 12 [1774], deploring that `the People here openly oppose the New Accts. They have taken up arms in almost every part of this Province, & have drove in the Govr & most of the Council.` Percy groused about his superior Gage: `The General`s great lenity and moderation serve only to make them more daring & insolent.` Percy then added:

" `What makes an insurrection here always more formidable than in other places, is that there is a law of this Province, wh[ich] obliges every inhabitant to be furnished with a firelock, bayonet, & pretty considerable quantity of ammunition. Besides wh[ich], every township is obliged by the same law to have a large magazine of all kinds of military stores.

" `They are, moreover, trained four times in each year, so that they do not make a despicable appearance as soldiers, tho` armed with firelocks, provided they only come in small nos.`

"Yet Gage was no pansy. He had already incensed the colonists by seizing large quantities of ammunition from the powder houses...."

From Halbrook, The Founders` Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms, pgs. 41-42.

Image: "Colonial Militia Scout" by Randy Steele.
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#americanrevolution #thefounderssecondamendment #2ahistory #lordhughpercy #generalgage ...

I wonder what tune she`s whistling as she confidently strides home with her rifle on her shoulder and dinner in hand.

Photo: This photograph most likely dates to the early 1940s.
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#rabbithunting #smallgamehunting #rabbithunter #womenthathunt #vintagehuntingphoto ...

In 1866, "Buffalo Soldiers," an all-Black army regiment, was formed to serve on the Western frontier. These men proved to be brave and dedicated as they worked to control Native American tribes of the Plains, catch cattle thieves, protect national parks, and protect settlers, travelers, and railroad crew, all in the Wild West. They fought in numerous wars including the Spanish American War and World Wars I and II. The Buffalo Soldier regiments were finally disbanded during the Korean War, when the U.S. military was desegregated.

It is said that the Native American tribes called these men "Buffalo Soldiers" because of their fierce way of fighting and their dark, curly hair.

Dr. John Morton-Finney (1889–1998) was a Buffalo Soldier who served with the 24th U.S. Infantry Regiment in the Philippines before fighting in France during WWI. An avid learner, he earned 11 academic degrees, including five in law. Once he became a lawyer, he did not retire until his 107th birthday and is believed to have been the oldest practicing attorney in the U.S.

President George H.W. Bush officially proclaimed July 28th as Buffalo Soldiers Day in 1992.

Photo: African American soldiers of the U.S. Army`s segregated 92nd Infantry Division (Buffalo Soldiers) walking past a disabled German Tiger I heavy tank on a road in Italy." (September 1944.) [warfarehistorynetwork.com]
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#BuffaloSoldier #BuffaloSoldiers #africanamericanhistory #wildwesthistory #blackamericanhistory ...

[ENGLISH BELOW] Enquanto aguardava seu julgamento no pós-guerra, Pierre Laval, o líder fantoche da França de Vichy ocupada pelos nazistas, "justificou a sua colaboração contínua com os nazistas que agora ocupavam toda a França da seguinte forma: `Se eu tivesse abandonado o meu posto em novembro de 1942, todo o país teria se tornado um vasto Maquis. O custo teria sido de milhares e milhares de mortos. É compreensível que homens corajosos e verdadeiros patriotas não tenham hesitado em expor-seàs consequências do Artigo 10, que os proscreveu como guerrilheiros ou francs-tireurs. Mas como poderia o chefe do governo justificar a tomada de uma decisão que exporia toda a população francesa a este terrível risco?`

"Toda a França como `um vasto Maquis`, como eram chamados os combatentes da resistência rural, significaria uma luta armada popular contra a ocupação nazista. O fato de os guerrilheiros, também conhecidos como francs-tireurs, não serem tratados como prisioneiros de guerra nos termos do Artigo 10 do armistício era uma consequência brutal, mas esperada, de estarem na Resistência. A colaboração contínua de Laval apenas atrasou a derrota da ocupação nazista. Não será preciso dizer que o desastre conjurado não teria ocorrido se Laval, para usar as suas palavras, tivesse abandonado o seu posto."

De Halbrook, Desarmamento Na França Ocupada Pelos Nazistas, pág. 180.
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While awaiting his postwar trial, Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of Nazi-occupied Vichy France, "justified his continued collaboration with the Nazis, who by then occupied all of France, as follows: `Had I abandoned my post in November 1942 the whole of the country would have become one vast Maquis. The cost would have been thousands and thousands dead. It is understandable that brave men and true patriots did not hesitate to expose themselves to the consequences of Article 10, which outlawed them as guerillas or francs-tireurs. But how could the head of the Government be justified in taking a decision which would expose the entire French population to this terrible risk?`

"The whole of France as `one vast Maquis,` as rural resistance fighters were called, would have meant [CONTINUED IN COMMENTS] ...

"On July 17, the Third Circuit declared New Jersey`s ban on semiautomatic rifles and magazines holding over ten rounds to violate the Second Amendment. The case is Ass`n of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. v. Attorney General New Jersey (AJNRPC), and the 10 to 5 en banc opinion is authored by Judge Arianna J. Freeman. This is the first circuit court decision to invalidate an `assault firearm` and magazine ban."
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"Judge Paul Matey`s concurrence minces no words: `Nothing has changed in the decades since the State launched its battle against the Second Amendment and its ongoing defiance of the law.` The terms `LCM` and `assault firearm` have no objective meanings but are `marketing materials recycled into legislation.` Although the opinion of the court doesn`t mention features, Judge Matey explains, `There is too much evidence that all of the arms at issue—pistol grips, folding stocks, magazines containing eleven or more rounds, and the semiautomatic shotguns and pistols New Jersey lumped into the definition of "assault weapons" with no real thought—are and have long been in common use for lawful purposes.`"

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "New Jersey Rifle and Magazine Bans Bite the Dust" (7/22/26).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2026/07/22/second-amendment-roundup-new-jersey-rifle-and-magazine-bans-bite-the-dust/

Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#magazineban #semiautomatic #njgunlaws #2ndamendmentcases #secondamendmentroundup ...