James Madison Quote 

"A government that does not trust it's law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms is itself unworthy of trust."

by:
James Madison
(1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President
Source:
Federalist Papers
Categories:
 
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Reader comments about this quote:
I really liked it
 -- bob		 
i think that the government should stop giving all the money to prisons and more to schools!!! kids spend as much time at school as they do at home. we should be trying to prevent crime. not get ready for it!
 -- hannah johnson, tuolomne		 
 -- Anonymous 
Truth.
 -- J Carlton, Calgary		 
Another Quote - "Here's my credo. There are no good guns, there are no bad guns. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a bad thing. Any gun in the hands of a good man is no threat to anyone, except bad people." - Charlton Heston
 -- Bob Graham, Lakewood, CO		 
WOW ! ! ! We hold this truth to be self evident.
 -- Mike, Norwalk		 
In Madison's day it would have been impossible to fight the British invasion had the people not had their personal fire-arms.
 -- cal, lewisville, tx		 
Key word is law abiding. Those who keep arms and claim that they are for use against the police or government have law avoidance or overthrow of law in their hearts and minds. Those like Mike who utter an unthinking Wow! once a day should probalby not be let near a gun. As for good people I agree they should have their guns, I know I have mine. Nothing Mike says indicates to me that he is a good or law abiding person. He states his abhorrence to even the simplest of traffic laws. The heavey weapons in Lexington and Concord were in the armories and the British were marching to take them. Fortunately the farmers and villagers had enough private weapons to fire on the Brits as they retreated. But again the primary weapons of US citizens are in the armories.
 -- Waffler, Smith		 
Mike is a Patriot to American principles Waffler, you are a Patriot to British principles. By that I mean the army could be coming down the street rounding people up and you''d be the type to point to where mother's and children were hiding. You certainly are able to frame things just so to make your twisted point in your own schizophrenic way...I'll give you that.
 -- J Carlton, Calgary		 
Waffler, truly the key word (-; or 2 ;-) is 'law' abiding. Your borg mentality defines law (and right) as anything the statist theocracy's slave masters (the omnipotents of the borg collective) say it is or, willy nilly enforce at their whim. If they outlawed gravity, you would say it is illegal to stay on the ground. Anyone found on the ground should have their guns taken away and they should be put in jail. As to 'good people', I can not be good, I refuse to submit to the borg collective. When the statist theocracy that infests this land claimed it had inherent right, standing in toto aloof from 'We The People', its armories became alien to 'We The People' also. The primary weapons of the US citizens are those in personal possession of the individual states citizens. Concerning law, I believe law is given of God, not man, and it is man's privilege and duty to find out what that law is and define it for the good and prosperity of the individual / society. I believe man's lawful administrations, or otherwise actions applied to men's affairs assumes among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them - nothing more or less. P.S. Waffler, FYI - I respect and follow all traffic laws. I also abhor those statist theocracy's rules that infringe on my rights, so I do not participate in any of the borg collective's genuflecting. If that makes me bad in your eyes, I am grateful, I wear that as a badge of honor.
 -- Mike, Norwalk		 
Mike you have previously in effect laughed with scorn on this site about the idea of driving on a particular side of the street as is required by law. Carlton I appreciate your comments about my ability to frame things but suggest it is not due in any ability but due to straight thinking. Someone (a preacher I think) once told me that "you always say the right thing", I don't intentionaly try to do so but I do believe that right thinking breeds correct writing and expression. Again Mike has many times expressed his antipaty to obeying law as he has done above.. Merry Christmas to you all.
 -- Waffler, Smith		 
Waffler, I clearly remember our dialog. You clearly are extracting a small portion there of, and putting a spin on it that didn't exist and makes your whole comment a lie. Your 'out of context' spin, referencing your incorrect conclusion as the basis of accusation, is wrong again. Your ability to think straight or say the right thing could have only been perceived by one of the borg collective's liars.
 -- Mike, Norwalk		 
Leave it to Waffler to debate against non-existent words. What a poor technique to debate what one paraphrases of one's opposition. Can you not defend your ideology without resorting to putting false words into others' mouths? Clearly a politician's trick. Madison states clearly the true intent of those that drafted the Constitution and why. Afterall, the police are but other citizens who have no more rights than the rest of the populace -- who are the majority I might add. The government is nothing but other 'men' -- they have no right to increase the weapons in their hands at the expense of the People's right to defend themselves. The armory is public property of the People, not the state. If not, then all you need is a corrupt politician to put all the weapons in the hands of his hired 'officers' and point them at us. If we cannot defend our freedom and rights, we will not long have them.
 -- E Archer, NYC		 
Terrific quotes..!
 -- CUBA LIBRE, Houston		 
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