These have probably been posted at some point here.... but I thought some of you might like these.
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"By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia', the 'security' of the nation, and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms', our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny, which gave rise to the Second Amendment, will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason, I believe the Second Amendment will always be important." - John F. Kennedy, April 1960
"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom." - John F. Kennedy
"If householders were required by law to own and know how to use revolvers, burglary would cease. It is an act of good citizenship to make crime dangerous -- an encouragement of crime to remain defenseless." - 1904 Iver Johnson advertisement
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams
"That rifle on the wall of the laborer’s cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It our job to see that it stays there." - George Orwell
"When Xerxes offered to spare the lives of Leonidas, his 300 personal bodyguards and a handful of Thebans and others who volunteered to defend their country, if they would lay down their arms, Leonidas shouted these two words back: Molon Labe! They mean, 'Come and get them!'"
"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." - Dalai Lama, Tibet
"When the miser prefers his gold to justice, it is through no fault of the gold, but of the man, and so with every created thing." - Saint Augustine
"The plain meaning of the right of the people to keep arms is that it is an individual, rather than a collective right, and is not limited to keeping arms while engaged in active military service or as a member of a select militia such as the National Guard." - U.S. vs. Emerson, 5th Circuit Federal Court
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein
"False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils except destruction. 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 crime." - Cesare Beccaria, quoted by Thomas Jefferson
"The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting, and I know I'm not going to make very many friends saying this, but it's about our right, all of our right to be able to protect ourselves from all of you guys up there." - Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, appearing before Representative Charles Schumer's committee hearings on the assault weapons ban
"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed- unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." - James Madison
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." - Thomas Jefferson
To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." - Ted Nugent
"It is the criminal who 'shoots to kill' in violation of man's rights. It is the law-abiding citizen who shoots in 'righteous self defense' to protect and preserve man's rights." - James Mullen
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." - H.L. Mencken
"The right to life means nothing without the right to possess the means to protect and defend one's own life." - James Mullen
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson
"An armed society is a polite society." - Robert Heinlein
"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud, General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
"To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." - Ted Nugent
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" - Ben Franklin
"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." - 2nd Amendment
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
"Arms in the hands of individual citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self-defense." - John Adams
"The said Constitution be never construed …to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." - Samuel Adams
"Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense?" - Patrick Henry
"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 Republican
"The defense of one's self, justly called the primary law of nature, is not, nor can it be abrogated by any regulation of municipal law." - James Wilson, The Works of James Wilson, 1896
"He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." - Jesus, Luke 22:36
"Our enemies will lead us to believe that we are incapable of defending ourselves and should let them do it." - Mike W. Smith, Guned.com
"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it." - Daniel Webster Speech, June 3, 1834
"It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe in obeying the law." - Malcolm X, March 12, 1964
"Arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe and preserve order in the world as well as property." - Thomas Paine
"Gun bans don't disarm criminals, gun bans attract them." - Walter Mondale, Former Vice President
"I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand." - Susan B Anthony
"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." - Patrick Henry
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." - Plato
"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." - George Jean Nathan
"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." - George Mason, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)
"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
"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
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes." - Thomas Jefferson
"The said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." - Samuel Adams, U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788
"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American." - Tench Coxe, of Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe." - Noah Webster, Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787
"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, 1789
"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good." - George Washington
"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of resistance?" - Thomas Jefferson, 1787
"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
