Guns and Liberty

Without guns in the hands of the average citizen, there never would have been an America. A republic such as ours could not have been imagined and strived for without rifles and munition in the hands of ordinary and liberty leaning citizens...

"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 that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States." -Noah Webster

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one 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." -Patrick Henry

"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 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." -U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story from the 1833 Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States

The following quotes are from the New American Magazine, Fall/Winter 1994, Article entitled 'Insurance For Liberty' by Robert W. Lee:

"In one country after another during this century, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes have used gun registration records to confiscate firearms from those who might otherwise threaten their rule."

"Julio Rabel, who with his family escaped from Cuba in 1961, told the Post that under Batista the "owner of any gun, had to register it with the police, contained not only the make, number and description of the gun, but also the owner's picture and fingerprints. Thus it was a simple matter for Castro's men to collect every gun in the country."

Regarding Hitler's stranglehold on German freedoms:
"On November 11,1938, further regulations regarding the possession of weapons by Jews were issued, which asserted that Jews "are prohibited from acquiring, possessing, and carrying firearms and ammunition, as well as truncheons or stabbing weapons."

"Hitler's program of domestic disarmament served him well. Simkin and Zelman note that the "only armed effort to overturn the Nazis- an attempt to kill Hitler on 20 July 1944- was launched by disenchanted Nazi insiders, not by ordinary people."

"During the Warsaw Uprising of August-October 1944, resisters in the Polish Underground held an entire Nazi division at bay while armed with only ten or so handguns (the Nazis apparently did not realize how few guns were involved). As many as a thousand persons were able to escape with their lives before the rebellion was quelled."