It is an ancient and unresolved debate here, whose core is the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution of 1789. The much-misinterpreted text guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” — a defensive measure against assaults by the young state on its citizens. That may apply to muskets, but not to AK-47s.

The view from Spiegel: “America’s weapons, America’s Tragedies” by Marc Pitzke