Denver Law Review Volume 95 Issue 2 Article 3 November 2020 The Right to Arms in Nineteenth Century Colorado David B. Kopel Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/dlr Recommended Citation David B. Kopel, The Right to Arms in Nineteenth Century Colorado, 95 Denv. L. Rev. 329 (2018). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. THE RIGHT TO ARMS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY COLORADO DAVID B. KOPELt ABSTRACT This Article details the legal, cultural, and political history of the right to arms in Colorado in the nineteenth century. The Article pays particular attention to the period between 1858, when mass white settlement began with the gold rush, and 1876, when Colorado achieved statehood. When Colorado became the thirty-eighth state, Coloradans chose to adopt a constitution whose right to arms guarantee was stronger than any other state. The choice stemmed in part from pre-statehood conditions, when the settlers had to rely on their own resources for defense against a myriad of dangers. Right from the start, Coloradans established a vigorous and enduring tradition of self-government and self-defense. In the Colorado view, the right to arms is an inherent, inalienable human right, which is protected by legitimate governments, but not created by government. Accordingly, the Article extensively describes the exercise of the right to arms by Colorado Indians.