The Conditional Right to Bear Arms: The Boundaries of Law and Liberty in Britain and Ireland, 1790s–1920s

Abstract

This dissertation examines the history of arms ownership and its regulation in Britain and Ireland from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries, situating the development of arms legislation within broader debates about liberty, authority, and the nature of the modern state. It argues that the “right to bear arms” in the United Kingdom was never a fixed or universally applied legal principle, but rather a contested and evolving political and ideological construct shaped by social conflict, ideology, and differing constitutional contexts across the British Isles. Adopting a comparative framework, this study demonstrates that arms regulation developed along two distinct yet interconnected trajectories. In Britain, arms ownership remained relatively unrestricted for much of the nineteenth century, and legislative interventions were episodic, reactive, and often contested within a political culture that associated arms-bearing with constitutional liberty. In Ireland, by contrast, restrictive arms legislation was persistent and systemic, embedded within a framework of governance shaped by colonial tensions, sectarian division, and recurring unrest. Ireland thus functioned as a laboratory for coercive legal practices, where the state refined methods of disarmament while maintaining the appearance of constitutional legitimacy. Through the critical analysis of a wide range of primary sources, from legal, political, and administrative documents to a wealth of digitized newspaper and magazine articles, this dissertation explores how arms laws were justified, implemented, and experienced in different contexts. It highlights the importance of discretionary enforcement, local authority, and social hierarchy in shaping the practical effects of legislation, demonstrating that the operation of arms control often depended less on statutory provisions than on their interpretation and application. This study further argues that arms regulation provides a revealing lens through which to understand the evolution of the British conception of liberty and political liberalism. While arms-bearing was frequently framed as a fundamental right in early nineteenth-century political discourse, it was increasingly recast as a privilege subject to state supervision. This transformation did not simply reflect the imposition of authority from above, but was facilitated by changing social attitudes, technological developments, and growing concerns about crime and public order. Ultimately, the dissertation contends that the history of arms legislation is inseparable from the history of state formation. It reveals how the tension between liberty and security was negotiated through law, and how the regulation of arms became a key mechanism through which governments defined political belonging, managed dissent, and asserted authority. By tracing these developments across Britain and Ireland, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the contingent and uneven character of liberal governance in the United Kingdom and its imperial context.