"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Proposed Virginia Constitution, 1776
"No man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
-- Thomas Jefferson, June 1776
"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that ... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Cartwright, 1824.
"The said Constitution [shall] be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms."
-- Samuel Adams, Massachusetts' U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788
"The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people."
-- Fisher Ames, Letter to F.R. Minoe, June 12, 1789
"... to disarm the people ... [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them ... I ask, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers."
-- George Mason, Virginia's U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788
"That the People have a right to keep and bear Arms; that a well regulated Militia, composed of the Body of the People, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe Defence of a free state."
-- George Mason, declaration of "the essential and unalienable Rights of the People", 1788
"A well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country..."
-- James Madison, in the Federalist Papers No. 46
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, "The Federalist", No. 46
"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, "Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republic" (1787 - 1788)
"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms ... To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms ... The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle."
-- Richard Henry Lee, "Additional Letters From The Federal Farmer", 1788
"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? ... Congress shall have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American ... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people."
-- Tench Coxe, "The Pennsylvania Gazette", Feb. 20, 1788
"... as military forces, which must occasionally be raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article (of amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms."
-- Tench Coxe, "Federal Gazette", June 18, 1789
"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 band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power."
-- Noah Webster, "An Examination of The Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution", Philadelphia, 1787
"If circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens."
-- Alexander Hamilton, "The Federalist", No. 29
"If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government ... The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms ..."
-- Alexander Hamilton, "Federalist Papers"
"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 of the use of them."
-- Thomas Paine, "Thoughts On Defensive War", 1775
"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, "Commonplace Book", 1774-1776, quoting from "On Crimes and Punishment", by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764
"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to posess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed the subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing."
-- Adolf Hitler, "Hitler's Table Talks 1941-1944", (ed.) H.R. Trevor-Roper
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