Contrary to the assertions of certain revisionists, particularly those
of avowed socialists such as Sarah Brady, the thinking of America's
founding fathers is as righteous and relevant today as it was in the
18th century. The inalienable right of the individual to effectively
defend himself, his family, and his community, is challenged only by
evil people. If we cannot agree on this most basic principle, then
let us launch ourselves headlong into civil war.
"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States)
assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may
exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at
all times armed."
-Thomas Jefferson
"They that can give up liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as they
are injurious to others."
-Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1781-1785)
"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government]
those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations,
perverted it into tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson, Bill for the More General diffusion of Knowledge
(1778)
"(The Constitution preserves) the advantage of being armed which
Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...
(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
-James Madison
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are
neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make
things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they
serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed
man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
-Thomas Jefferson, quoting Cesare Beccaria
"...arms...discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and
preserve order in the world as well as property. ...Horrid mischief
would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them."
-Thomas Paine
"Is life so sweet, or peace so dear, as to be purchased at the price
of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!"
-Patrick Henry
"We have it, in our power, the ability to begin the world anew."
-Thomas Paine
"Those who expect to reap the blessing of liberty must, like men,
undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine
"On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry
ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted,
recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying
what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it,
conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823, The
Complete Jefferson, p322
"To disarm the people (is) the best and most effectual way to enslave
them..."
-George Mason, 3 Elliot, Debates at 380
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they
be properly armed."
-Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-8
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who
approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but
downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined...The
great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might
have a gun.
-Patrick Henry
"To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people
always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how
to use them..."
-Richard Henry Lee writing in Letters from the Federal Farmer to the
Republic (1787-1788)
"The Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to
prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens,
from keeping their own arms."
-Samuel Adams, debates & Proceedings in the Convention of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 86-87
"Arms in the hands of citizens (may) be used at individual
discretion...in private self defense..."
-John Adams, A defense of the Constitutions of the Government of the
USA, 471 (1788)
"...the people have a right to keep and bear arms."
-Patrick Henry and George Mason, Elliot, Debates at 185
"The right of the people to keep and bear...arms shall not be
infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the people, trained
to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country..."
-James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434 (June 8, 1789)
"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a
few public officials."
-George Mason, 3 Elliot, Debates at 425-426
"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people
themselves...and include all men capable of bearing arms."
-Richard Henry Lee, Additional Letters from the Federal Farmer (1788)
at 169
"The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at
least 17 years of age..."
-Title 10, Section 311 of the U.S. Code
"words importing the masculine gender include the feminine as
well"
-Title 1, Section 1 of the U.S. Code
"The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in
full possession of them."
-Zachariah Johnson, 3 Elliot, Debates at 646
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-Thomas Jefferson, Proposal Virginia Constitution, 1 T. Jefferson
Papers, 334 (C.J. Boyd, Ed., 1950)
"If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is
then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self
defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government..."
-Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist (#28)
"As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them,
may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be
occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to
the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the
article in their right to keep and bear their private arms."
-Tench Coxe, Remarks on the First Part of the Amendments to the Federal
Constitution, under the pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian" in the
Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789 at col. 1
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms has been recognized by
the General Government; but the best security of that right after all
is, the military spirit, that taste for martial exercises, which has
always distinguished the free citizens of these States...Such men form
the best barrier to the liberties of America."
-gazette of the United States, October 14, 1789
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they
are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America
cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the
people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of
regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United
States."
-Noah Webster, An Examination into the Leading Principles of the
federal Constitution (1787) in Pamphlets to the Constitution of the
United States (P. Ford, 1888)
"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves."
Abraham Lincoln Speech, 19 May 1856
"Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take
it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his
garment, and buy one." Luke 22:36 quoting Jesus of Nazareth, from KJV