Quotes from Stephen P. Halbrook

It is a natural right which the people have reserved to themselves, confirmed by the Bill of Rights, to keep arms for their own defence; and as Mr. Blackstone observes, it is to be made use of when the sanctions of society and law are found insufficient to restrain the violence of oppression.

The free exercise of religion was another matter. Delegate Samuel Johnston described a proposal requiring each member of the legislature to take a test oath swearing "that he believed in the holy Trinity and that the Scripture of the Old Testament was written by divine inspiration. This was carried after a very warm debate and has blown up such a flame that every thing is in danger of being thrown into confusion."185 But a watered down sectarian test oath was finally adopted as Article

Dr. Richard Price in 1779, "every inhabitant has in his house (as a part of his furniture) a book on law and government, to enable him to understand his civil rights; a musket to enable him to defend these rights; and a Bible to enable him to understand and practice his religion.

The Crown's attempts to disarm the colonists as a contributing grievance in the chain of events leading to the American Revolution and the imperative of guaranteeing the right to have arms in bills of rights are themes that pervade the thinking of the Founders' generation.

Madison thus saw the rights he would propose, such as freedom of the press and keeping and bearing arms, as not involving the structure or powers of government but as involving private rights. The "fallacy" of the English Declaration was that it was a mere legislative act that Parliament could repeal; by contrast, the American bill of rights would be part of the Constitution and not subject to repeal by Congress

The same debate was simmering in the Continental Congress. George Washington noted that "I did not think myself Authorised to seize upon any Arms the property of private Person; but if they can be collected and the owners satisfied for them, it would be of very essential service.

The crime was a felony punishable by death, which could be avoided by three years of impressment on an American ship of war.

None but an armed nation can dispense with a standing army," Jefferson wrote in 1803. "To keep ours armed and disciplined is therefore at all times important.

The paradigm that government should have a monopoly of small arms implies the surreal normative postulate that citizens—or, rather, subjects—should be treated as the Jews were in Nazi Germany.

Jefferson acquired arms in the same manner as he sought learned books and fine wines. His memorandum books kept between 1768 and 1823 show numerous references to the acquisition of pistols, guns, muskets, rifles, fusils, gun locks, and other gun parts; the repair of firearms; and the acquisition of shot, gunpowder, powder flasks, and cartridge boxes.40 Included were a pair of "Turkish pistols . . . so well made that I never missed a squirrel at 30 yds. with them.

In retirement at Monticello, Jefferson again had ample time for hunting, and he was a true sportsman. His servant Isaac recalled: Mr. Jefferson used to hunt squirrels and partridges; kept five or six guns. Oftentimes carred Isaac wid him. Old Master wouldn't shoot partridges settin'. Said "he wouldn't take advantage of 'em"—would give 'em a chance for thar life. Wouldn't shoot a hare settin', nuther; skeer him up fust.

Jefferson continued about some of its "important principles: 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, . . . 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.

If I can but be the instrument of preserving one life, his blessings and tears of transport, shall be sufficient consolation to me, for the contempt of all mankind.

It is a natural right which the people have reserved to themselves, confirmed by the Bill of Rights, to keep arms for their own defence; and as Mr. Blackstone observes, it is to be made use of when the sanctions of society and law are found insufficient to restrain the violence of oppression.64

There is a single reference to the members of the House of Representatives being "chosen every second Year by the People of the several States," but this is qualified by the additional clause that "the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." That meant the voters rather than the people at large.

Citizens of Boston had been slain, but Boston juries acquitted all the soldiers of murder.

Thus, "the people" had a right to religious freedom and to have arms. Regarding the latter, New York followed Virginia in beginning with the declaration "that the people have a right to keep and bear arms," and then including a separate clause declaring the militia to be necessary for a free state. While Virginia referred to the militia as "composed of the body of the people, trained to arms,"27 New York characterized the militia as "including the body of the people capable of bearing arms.

Webster defined "people" as "persons in general."4 Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) was adopted as the standard by Congress and the American people and became the accepted norm even in England.5 Webster there defined "the people" as "the commonalty, as distinct from men of rank.

passage from Cicero's defense of Titus Annius Milo in ancient Rome on murder charges: "When arms speak, the laws are silent; they bid none to await their word .... And yet most wisely, and, in a way, tacitly, the law authorises self-defence .... The man who had employed a weapon in self-defence was not held to have carried that weapon with a view to homicide.

It is a common proverb, that many true words are spoken in jest, and it may be relied upon by all slave makers, that the people of this province are too enlightened and spirited, much longer to submit to Tyrants.

Jackson opined that anyone objecting to militia duty should pay an equivalent, for "bearing arms was one of the most important duties we owe to society. One great object men have in view, by forming themselves into a state of civil society, is to protect their persons and property; to afford this protection it is necessary . . . that every one either give his personal assistance, or pay an equivalent for it.

Webster defined "keep" in part as: 1. To hold; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose or parr with; as, to keep a house or a farm . . . . 2. To have in custody for security or preservation . . . . 3. To preserve; to retain.8 Webster's following further definition seems particularly apropos to the right to keep arms: "To have in the house

A tyrannical government supported by a standing army had sought to disarm a people through various artifices. It took these repressive measures against both citizens organized as militia and against citizens as individuals. The patriots then exercised their right to keep and bear arms to protect both this right and their many other rights.

Upon receiving word of the arms embargo, the Boston Committee of Correspondence sent the news by Paul Revere to their friends in New Hampshire, warning them that two British ships would be proceeding to Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth to secure the Crown's materiel. On December 14, some 400 armed men approached the fort by boat and overran it.