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Notable Quotes
       
For anyone who doesn't think the
2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution means what it says, read these quotations from the
Founding Fathers and other Leaders.
Edmund Burke: "The
people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."
1784 speech.
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..."
An examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution by the
Late Convention (1787.)
William Pitt: "If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a
foreign troop was landed in my country I never would lay down my arms -- never,
never, never! You cannot conquer America." 1777 speech.
Benjamin Franklin: "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Historical
Review of Pennsylvania, (1759.)
Thomas Jefferson: "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
Proposed Virginia Constitution (1776,) Jefferson Papers 344, (J. Boyd, ed.
1950.)
John Adams: "Arms in the hands of individual citizens may be used at
individual discretion... in private self defence." A Defense of the U.S.
Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (1787-88.)
James Madison: 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." The Federalist
#46.
Thomas Paine: "...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." Thoughts on
Defensive War, (1775.)
Thomas Jefferson: "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." Quoting 18th Century criminologist
Cesare Beccaria in On Crimes and Punishment (1764.)
Richard Henry Lee: "A militia when properly formed is in fact the people
themselves...and include all men capable of bearing arms...To preserve liberty
it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms..."
Additional Letters From the Federal Farmer 53 (1788.)
George Mason: "I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole
people...to disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave
them." During Virginia's ratification convention, (1788.)
Samuel Adams: "The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the
people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own
arms." During Massachusetts' U.S. Constitution Ratification Convention,
(1788.)
John Adams: A Constitution of
Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost,
is lost forever.
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