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I love Jefferson -- "Let your gun be your...constant companion..."
And Patrick Henry, of "Give me liberty or give me death," fame in a a
great quote tailored for Belize: "Suspect everyone that approaches
that jewel....nothing will preserve it but downright force.....the great
object is that every man be armed..."
The founding fathers expected people to be armed unlike most other
countries to keep the government in check. There can be no other way to
construe their huge catalog of commentary:
"A free people ought to be armed."
- George Washington
- George Washington
"A
free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should
have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of
independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would
include their own government."
- George Washington
- George Washington
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin
- Benjamin Franklin
"The
strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms
is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in
government."
- Thomas Jefferson
- Thomas Jefferson
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
- Thomas Jefferson
- Thomas Jefferson
"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."
- Thomas Jefferson (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria)
- Thomas Jefferson (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria)
"A
strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I
advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives
boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with
the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and
stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant
companion of your
walks." - Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
"A
strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I
advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives
boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind.
Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent
for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun,
therefore, be the constant companion of your walks."
-- --Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1785. ME 5:85, Papers 8:407
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/...s/jeff1500.htm
-- --Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1785. ME 5:85, Papers 8:407
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/...s/jeff1500.htm
"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
- Thomas Jefferson
"On
every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry
ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect
the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force]
what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it,
[instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
- Thomas Jefferson
- Thomas Jefferson
"I
enclose you a list of the killed, wounded, and captives of the enemy
from the commencement of hostilities at Lexington in April, 1775, until
November, 1777, since which there has been no
event of any consequence ... I think that upon the whole it has been
about one half the number lost by them, in some instances more, but in
others less. This difference is ascribed to our superiority in taking
aim when we fire; every soldier in our army having been intimate with
his gun from his infancy."
- Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778
- Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778
"Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense."
- John Adams
- John Adams
"To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them.- George Mason
"I ask sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few politicians."
- George Mason (father of the Bill of Rights and The Virginia Declaration of Rights)
This is an old classic
everyone knows....
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe."
- Noah Webster
- Noah Webster
"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."
- Noah Webster
- Noah Webster
"A
government resting on the minority is an aristocracy, not a Republic,
and could not be safe with a numerical and physical force against it,
without a standing army, an enslaved press and a disarmed populace."
- James Madison
- James Madison
"Americans
have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other
countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms."
- James Madison
- James Madison
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 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
- James Madison
"The ultimate authority resides in the people alone."
- James Madison
- James Madison
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
- William Pitt
- William Pitt
"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
- Richard Henry Lee
"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms."
- Richard Henry Lee
- Richard Henry Lee
"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
- Patrick Henry
"This
may be considered as the true palladium of liberty.... The right of
self defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been
the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits
possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the
people to keep and bear
arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if
not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction."
- St. George Tucker
- St. George Tucker
"...
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
- Thomas Paine
"The
Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the
United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
- Samuel Adams
- Samuel Adams
"The
right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered,
as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a
strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers;
and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance,
enable the people to resist and triumph over them."
- Joseph Story
- Joseph Story
"What,
Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a
standing army, the bane of liberty .... 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."
- Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts
- Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts
"
... for it is a truth, which the experience of all ages has attested,
that the people are commonly most in danger when the means of insuring
their rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the
least suspicion."
- Alexander Hamilton
- Alexander Hamilton
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