Harsanyi - First freedom: a ride through Americas enduring history with the gun

A samurai shooting an early firearm in the mid-1600s

T he future king of Israel wasnt entirely forthcoming. After all, in addition to the blessing of the Lord Almightyor, perhaps because of itDavid was also in possession of a major technological advantage. By the time he faced the Philistine giant in the Valley of Elah, the sling had emerged as one of the most potent projectile weapons of the ancient world. The meager sword was no match for David. Not when he was armed with a missile launcher that held a stopping power equivalent to a small-caliber bullet. If for some reason Goliath had been unacquainted with the slings capability, he would soon learn, as would millions of others in the coming millennia, that superior size meant little when facing superior firepower.

Inventing and perfecting weapons that could kill others from afar was a concern nearly as old as human existence itself. From almost the beginning men had been throwing things at each other. Lethal thingsprojectiles that could slice through his enemys skin, pierce through his armor, burn his foes, and, ultimately, blow them up. Davids weapon was a mere blip in an arms race that spans tens of thousands of years, from rocks, spears, slingshots, bows and arrows, javelins, catapults, and cannons, to the predominant guns of American colonial life, the musket and rifle, and, finally, the automatic weapon.

To hit Goliath square in the forehead, David had been incredibly proficient with his weapon. As a shepherd protecting his flock from predators and thieves, David, who was also likely a soldier, had an intuitive understanding of his release pointa skill mastered only through years of experience. Attaining proficiency with a handheld missile launcher was no mere hobby for a man of his era or those of any another. It was a means of survival. For most of history, in fact, men lived their entire lives under the unremitting threat of violence.

Despite the tendency in contemporary culture to envision prehistoric man meandering on breezy plains with fellow villagers or cohabitating in serene villages, most humans pursued a policy of proactive martial violence against other members of their species. Man has habitually been in a state of war. Evidence of this bellicose disposition is strewn across the ancient and prehistoric world. Peaceful pre-state societies were very rare; warfare between them was very frequent and most adult men in such groups saw combat repeatedly in a lifetime, Lawrence H. Keeley, an anthropologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently observed.

In this environment, a human could best defend himself by creating space between himself and his enemy. Man probably developed ranged weaponsarms that could hit targets at distances greater than hand-to-hand combataround 71,000 years ago in Africa. Not only did the ranged

The first ranged weapons were probably made of long, thin blades of stone that were blunted on one edge and then glued into slots that were carved in wood or bone, creating a light arm that could hurl projectiles. The sling itself has been in use for around 10,000 years, if not longer. Ancient warriors and hunters typically made their pouches from animal hides and used hair or sinews to make a cord. The earliest ammunition, the kind of smooth stones that David relied on to slay the giant, were abundant around the many streams, lakes, and rivers that humans first gathered around to form their societies.