# A Liberal Against Banning Guns **URL:** **By** Don Kates **Published:** February 22, 1989 --- In this lecture in 1989, Don Kates gives a history of gun ownership in America and speaks about the historical implications of the right to self-defense. Don Kates is professor emeritus of constitutional and criminal law specializing in gun ownership and gun control issues. He is also a research fellow at the Independent Institute, and is the editor of _Firearms and Violence: Issues of Public Policy_ (1984). In this lecture at the Future of Freedom Conference in San Francisco, California in 1989, Kates gives a history of gun ownership in America and speaks about the historical implications of the right to self-defense.