They might sound familiar because they are some of the laws written in the constitution that make this land of the free so great; but have we thought about it? The answer is no; these were written in a constitution more than 500 years older than our own constitution (Hall, 109). The Magna Carta was the first body of law ever imposed on a king of England; it was done during the reign of a cruel and inept ruler who asked for a tax increase to continue fighting only to find that the nobles would not grant him the privilege unless they gathered to have a meeting (Hall, 109). This meeting founded the Magna Carta. About a third of the United States Bill of Rights is similar to the Magna Carta, but this is no coincidence. The Magna Carta was a revolutionary document designed to guarantee the people their liberties and also place the king under the law; many countries have found this political ideology attractive and have adopted it as well. A lot of time passed between the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights and they were written for different countries, so one can imagine there are a large number of differences. The most obvious would be that the United States does not have a monarchical government, so many of the same laws do not apply, but the Bill of Rights is more progressive than the Magna Carta. One thing that immediately catches the eye is the right to keep and bear arms. Even though it might seem like our government is pushing