Now thats gun control! To think the militias and rag tag soldiers used muzzle loaders back in the day, with little provisions and often without shoes.  
I recommend David McCoullough's 1776 as a great informative read. (I prefer the audio version). A ripping good tale!

In unrelated news... There was a back-to-back Alembic sighting in Monterey at the city's Fourth extravaganza. The bass player for The Money Band had a nice Epic 5 string, which was followed by my Rogue. And the soundman claimed to have an '83 Distillate!