50 guns that changed America : an illustrated guide
(Book)

The history of the United States is, like it or not, interwoven with the history of firearms. The young colony needed technologically advanced arms to hunt for food for survival and to maintain a secure base in the face of Native American opposition to European settlers. As the Vikings discovered several centuries earlier, the Indians were tough opponents expert in the use of bladed weapons and bows. The advent of firearms gave European settlers an advantage, although it was only a matter of time until the Native Americans gained access to firearms themselves. Ironically, this was often through unscrupulous white traders. Because these superior weapons gained them their freedom, the principle of the right to bear arms remains etched into the American psyche to this day.