Founding Fathers

""FOR A PEOPLE WHO ARE FREE, AND WHO MEAN TO REMAIN SO, A WELL-ORGANIZED AND ARMED MILITIA IS THEIR BEST SECURITY.""

Quote by Thomas Jefferson on well-organized and armed militia

""And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.""

Quote by Thomas Jefferson on spirit of resistance

""[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.""

Quote by James Madison on armed americans vs governments

"THE CONSTITUTIONS OF MOST OF OUR STATES ASSERT THAT ALL POWER IS INHERENT IN THE PEOPLE; THAT THEY MAY EXERCISE IT BY THEMSELVES, IN ALL CASES TO WHICH THEY THINK THEMSELVES COMPETENT, (AS IN ELECTING THEIR FUNCTIONARIES EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE, AND DECIDING BY A JURY OF THEMSELVES, BOTH FACT AND LAW, IN ALL JUDICIARY CASES IN WHICH ANY FACT IS INVOLVED) OR THEY MAY ACT BY REPRESENTATIVES, FREELY AND EQUALLY CHOSEN; THAT IT IS THEIR RIGHT AND DUTY TO BE AT ALL TIMES ARMED; THAT THEY ARE ENTITLED TO FREEDOM OF PERSON; FREEDOM OF RELIGION; FREEDOM OF PROPERTY; AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS."

Quote by Thomas Jefferson on popular sovereignty and arms

""ARE WE AT LAST BROUGHT TO SUCH A HUMILIATING AND DEBASING DEGRADATION, THAT WE CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH ARMS FOR OUR OWN DEFENSE? WHERE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING OUR ARMS IN OUR POSSESSION AND UNDER OUR OWN DIRECTION, AND HAVING THEM UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF CONGRESS? IF OUR DEFENSE BE THE REAL OBJECT OF HAVING THOSE ARMS, IN WHOSE HANDS CAN THEY BE TRUSTED WITH MORE PROPRIETY, OR EQUAL SAFETY TO US, AS IN OUR OWN HANDS?""

Quote by Patrick Henry on individual possession vs federal control

""WHENEVER GOVERNMENTS MEAN TO INVADE THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF THE PEOPLE, THEY ALWAYS ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE MILITIA, IN ORDER TO RAISE AN ARMY UPON THEIR RUINS.""

Quote by Elbridge Gerry on government tyranny warning

""NONE BUT AN ARMED NATION CAN DISPENSE WITH A STANDING ARMY.""

Quote by Thomas Jefferson on armed nation vs standing army

""...but 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 own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.""

Quote by Alexander Hamilton on citizens vs standing army

""THE GREAT OBJECT IS, THAT EVERY MAN BE ARMED...EVERY ONE WHO IS ABLE MAY HAVE A GUN.""

Quote by Patrick Henry on universal armament

""THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY...RESIDES IN THE PEOPLE ALONE...THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING ARMED, WHICH THE AMERICANS POSSESS OVER THE PEOPLE OF ALMOST EVERY OTHER NATION...FORMS A BARRIER AGAINST THE ENTERPRISES OF AMBITION.""

Quote by James Madison on armed americans vs other nations

""The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They 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.""

Quote by Thomas Jefferson/Cesare Beccaria on arms laws

""A MILITIA, WHEN PROPERLY FORMED, ARE IN FACT THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES...AND INCLUDE ALL MEN CAPABLE OF BEARING ARMS.""

Quote by Richard Henry Lee on militia composition