If Samuel Colt was alive today, he’d be 200 years old. While I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, I thank the failed underwater mine maker for enabling Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. By manufacturing hundreds of thousands of guns – using interchangeable parts on an assembly line – Mr. Colt mass-produced armed self defense. Through product placement, celebrity endorsements and advertising (not to mention some bribery and extortion), Colt spread his product throughout every strata of American society. The final word on Mr. Colt’s contribution to humanity comes from one of his company’s ads: “God made man, Sam Colt made them equal.”