France - Stephen P. Halbrook

2012] WHY CAN’T WE BE LIKE FRANCE? 1655
hunt were natural rights of man. 119
The village of Rivière-Verdun
demanded the prohibition of arbitrary deprivations, which would
result in the liberty of every citizen to keep arms in his house and to
carry pistols openly for his security. 120
The town of Nérac insisted that
every person be permitted to carry arms in order to defend himself
against dangerous animals, and that no one be disarmed for any
reason other than misuse of arms. 121
The right to arms was also
mentioned in relation to the right to assemble, 122 as well as freedom
from warrantless arrests 123 and warrantless search and seizure. 124
2. The Nobility Demands Gun Control
Predictably, the Second Estate—the Nobility (De la noblesse)—
demanded continuation of their exclusive privilege to bear arms and
the strengthening of firearm prohibitions as applied to the
commoners of the Third Estate. The nobility of the commune of
119. See Du tiers-état du Gex, 3 ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114, at
396.
120. See Du tiers-état de Rivière-Verdun, 5 ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra
note 114, at 587.
121. See Du tiers-état de Nérac, 4 ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114, at
234. The needs of farmers to have arms for defense against criminals and wild
animals were prominent. See, e.g., Du tiers-état de Honfleur, 5 ARCHIVES
PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114, at 614 (permitting all notables and farmers in
every parish of the country to freely enjoy the right to keep guns, and any necessary
arms in their houses, with the freedom to use them on the lands they cultivate, in
order to protect themselves, their animals and their goods against the violence of
thieves, the fury of mad dogs and the damage done by rabbits, boars and wild
animals, against which one cannot defend himself); Du tiers-état de Sedan, 5
ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114, at 728 (permitting every Frenchman,
especially the inhabitants of villages on the borders, to keep firearms at home to
defend themselves and to destroy harmful animals); Du tiers-état de Vendôme, 6
ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114, at 123-24 (granting farmers the right to
possess arms to defend their herds against wild and destructive animals).
122. See Du tiers-état de Gray, 1 ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114, at
780 (advocating the repeal of the law condemning to forced labor any citizens
assembled and armed in a group of four without being authorized to carry arms).
123. See Du tiers-état de Gisors, 5 ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114, at
618 (no citizen shall be arrested, no matter who is giving the order, for bearing arms,
for poaching or any other causes, without appearing before and being heard by his
legal judge or the judge of the alleged misdemeanor).
124. See Du tiers-état de Ponthieu, 5 ARCHIVES PARLEMENTAIRES, supra note 114,
at 441 (being just and natural that a farmer keeps arms in his house in order to repel
criminals and protect himself against wild animals, in the future he cannot be
deprived of the right to keep arms at home; therefore no search can be carried out in
his house, except by order of provincial governors, lords or mounted police officers,
and he can only be disarmed by order of his legal judge).