Property Rights and Gun Control: A Reply to Block and Block

Block and Block (2000) argue that according to libertarian law the mere possession of a nuclear weapon on planet Earth is an act of aggression and therefore would rightfully be prohibited. In this reply, it is argued that their geospatial framework for analyzing which weapons may be prohibited is divorced from the standard libertarian view, which emphasizes property rights over scarce goods, including land. Additionally, their argument that third parties’ subjective claims of being threatened by the mere possession of weapons determine whether an aggression occurred is untenable.