TALKLEFT is taking a surprisingly favorable line on my FoxNews column about genocide and the right to arms. But there is this quibble: “Our conception of a ‘right’ is an entitlement we choose to exercise, rather than a duty we feel obligated to perform.”

Actually, of course, in the Anglo-American tradition the right to arms has traditionally been conceived as both. It’s a right, in the sense that the state can’t take it away. But it’s also a duty, because the social benefits of an armed citizenry (the “positive externalities” in econospeak) in terms of both crime- and tyranny-prevention are sufficient to justify requiring people to be armed.

UPDATE: Here’s a related post from the Lefty Libertarian.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Here’s a list of quotes from Gandhi, et al., on arms bearing, from Robin Goodfellow. As far as I know they’re genuine, but there aren’t any links.