SWORDDUELING.COM

It was not until the late seventeenth century that the right to wear the sword became the exclusive privilege of the better classes. Until this time all men no matter what their social standing had the right and the duty to arm themselves with the sword. Even members of the clergy were known to carry daggers and swords.

Thus, prior to this time, the most common types of swords in use were the long swords, claymores, and two hand swords. Most of these swords featured straight, generally rigid blades, which were more for use in hacking and smashing types of attacks. Once the sword became exclusive to the upper echelons, its use came under close observation of those deemed as “maisters”. These maisters took their cues from the Spanish and Italian schools of “fence” and sought to eliminate cumbersome armor and heavy anti-armor swords in favor of much more streamline techniques.


http://www.umich.edu/~ece/student_projects/martial_arts/swords.html



Fortunately (and surprisingly) one of the most important constitutional decisions in American history came down last year when the Supreme court in remarkably libertarian language affirmed the individual right to bear arms to each American, after a century of whittling that away. DC v. Heller.