Carrying Arms

“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

A Free Man's Right

"No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." ~Thomas Jefferson, Proposal to Virginia Constitution

Pious Reflection

"It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it (Constitutional Convention) a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stage of the revolution." ~ James Madison, Federalist 37

To Preserve Liberty

"Whereas, 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 (1788)

The Price of Liberty

"Liberty, without virtue, would be no blessing to us." ~Benjamin Rush

Expectations

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was, and never will be." ~Thomas Jefferson

The Price of Freedom

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." ~Thomas Paine

Impatience

"There is a Passion natural to the Mind of man, especially a free Man, which renders him impatient of Restraint." ~ George Mason, Letter to the Committee of Merchants in London (June 6, 1766)

A Sovereign Body

"Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act." ~James Madison

Distrust

“All men having power should be distrusted to a certain degree.” ~James Madison