Blame
Date:
Mon Jan 23 05:00:25 2023 UTC
Message:
Daily backup
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version=pmwiki-2.2.130 ordered=1 urlencoded=1
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agent=Mozilla/5.0 (X11; OpenBSD amd64; rv:82.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/82.0
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author=jrmu
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csum=
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ctime=1596345135
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host=198.251.81.119
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name=Freedom.Checks
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rev=18
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targets=
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text=(:title Checks and Balances:)%0a%0a->There is danger from all staff. The only slogan of a free network ought to be to trust no staff member with enough power to threaten the public liberty.%0a%0a->In creating a network, the difficulty is you must allow the staff to control the users; and afterwards to control itself.%0a%0a->Pure democracies have always been scenes of anarchy and chaos; they are as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.%0a%0a->The ancient democracies, in which the users directly made all decisions, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny.%0a%0a->The accumulation of all powers in the same hands is the definition of admin abuse.%0a
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time=1612614101
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title=Checks and Balances
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author:1612614101=jrmu
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diff:1612614101:1612614061:=7c7,11%0a%3c ->Pure democracies have always been scenes of anarchy and chaos; they are as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.%0a---%0a> ->Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.%0a> %0a> ->No oper should be allowed to judge his own case, because his interest would bias his judgment.%0a> %0a> ->A purely democratic network has no safeguards against factions. Democracies have always been scenes of anarchy and chaos; they are as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.%0a
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host:1612614101=198.251.81.119
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author:1612614061=jrmu
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diff:1612614061:1612613590:=3c3%0a%3c ->There is danger from all staff. The only slogan of a free network ought to be to trust no staff member with enough power to threaten the public liberty.%0a---%0a> ->There is danger from all staff. The only slogan of a free network ought to be to trust no staff member with enough power to endanger the public liberty.%0a
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host:1612614061=198.251.81.119
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diff:1612613590:1606888337:=2,3d1%0a%3c %0a%3c ->There is danger from all staff. The only slogan of a free network ought to be to trust no staff member with enough power to endanger the public liberty.%0a
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host:1612613590=198.251.81.119
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diff:1606888337:1606888334:=
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host:1606888337=198.251.81.119
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author:1606888334=jrmu
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diff:1606888334:1597054522:=7,10c7,10%0a%3c ->No oper should be allowed to judge his own case, because his interest would bias his judgment.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->A purely democratic network has no safeguards against factions. Democracies have always been scenes of anarchy and chaos; they are as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.%0a%3c %0a---%0a> ->No oper should be allowed to judge his own cause, because his interest would bias his judgment.%0a> %0a> ->A purely democratic network no safeguards against factions. Democracies have always been scenes of anarchy and chaos; and are as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.%0a> %0a13c13%0a%3c ->The accumulation of all powers in the same hands is the definition of admin abuse.%0a---%0a> ->The accumulation of all powers in the same hands is the definition of oper abuse.%0a
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diff:1597054522:1597054483:=1,2d0%0a%3c (:title Checks and Balances:)%0a%3c %0a
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diff:1597054483:1596580996:=0a1,4%0a> ->The only slogan of a free network ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.%0a> %0a> ->Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.%0a> %0a3,4d6%0a%3c ->Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.%0a%3c %0a6a9,31%0a> ->They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” ~ Memoirs of the life and writings of Benjamin Franklin, 1818%0a> %0a> ->The corporations are afraid to trust the people with access to software.%0a> %0a> ->The truth is, all might be free, if they valued freedom and defended it as they ought.%0a> %0a> ->Oper abuse cannot maintain itself while there is a large body of users familiar with free software, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow users.%0a> %0a> ->If the staff of a network betray their users, there is nothing left but the right to fork against the tyranny.%0a> %0a> ->Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.%0a> %0a> ->Always remember that users, well-trained in free software, is the fortress of a free network.%0a> %0a> ->It is your right and duty to use and run your own software at all times; that you are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of Christian worship; freedom of property; and freedom of the press.%0a> %0a> ->If the servers should become disunited, they would have frequent and violent fights with each other. Users are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. %0a> To expect harmony would ignore the accumulated experience of the Internet.%0a> %0a> ->A well constructed union of servers tends to break and control the violence of factions.%0a> %0a> ->The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands is the very definition of tyranny.%0a> %0a11c36,38%0a%3c ->The accumulation of all powers in the same hands is the definition of oper abuse.%0a---%0a> ->Are societies of users truly capable of establishing good government?%0a> %0a> ->You must first enable the staff to control the users; and next, to control itself.%0a
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diff:1596580996:1596580981:=35,38d34%0a%3c %0a%3c ->Are societies of users truly capable of establishing good government?%0a%3c %0a%3c ->You must first enable the staff to control the users; and next, to control itself.%0a
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host:1596580996=38.81.163.143
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author:1596580981=jrmu
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diff:1596580981:1596580696:=30,34c30%0a%3c ->The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands is the very definition of tyranny.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->A purely democratic network no safeguards against factions. Democracies have always been scenes of anarchy and chaos; and are as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->The ancient democracies, in which the users directly made all decisions, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny.%0a---%0a> ->The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands is the very definition of tyranny.%0a\ No newline at end of file%0a
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author:1596580696=jrmu
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diff:1596580696:1596580132:=6,7d5%0a%3c %0a%3c ->No oper should be allowed to judge his own cause, because his interest would bias his judgment.%0a
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host:1596580696=38.81.163.143
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author:1596580132=jrmu
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diff:1596580132:1596579115:=2,3d1%0a%3c %0a%3c ->Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.%0a
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host:1596580132=38.81.163.143
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diff:1596579115:1596579060:=21,24c21%0a%3c ->If the servers should become disunited, they would have frequent and violent fights with each other. Users are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. %0a%3c To expect harmony would ignore the accumulated experience of the Internet.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->A well constructed union of servers tends to break and control the violence of factions.%0a---%0a> ->If the servers should become disunited, they would have frequent and violent fights with each other. Users are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. To expect harmony would ignore the accumulated experience of ages.%0a
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host:1596579115=38.81.163.143
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diff:1596579060:1596578998:=21,23c21%0a%3c ->If the servers should become disunited, they would have frequent and violent fights with each other. Users are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. To expect harmony would ignore the accumulated experience of ages.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands is the very definition of tyranny.%0a\ No newline at end of file%0a---%0a> ->If the servers should become disunited, they would have frequent and violent fights with each other. Users are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. To expect harmony would ignore the accumulated experience of ages.%0a\ No newline at end of file%0a
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diff:1596578998:1596354702:=19,21c19%0a%3c ->It is your right and duty to use and run your own software at all times; that you are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of Christian worship; freedom of property; and freedom of the press.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->If the servers should become disunited, they would have frequent and violent fights with each other. Users are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. To expect harmony would ignore the accumulated experience of ages.%0a\ No newline at end of file%0a---%0a> ->It is your right and duty to use and run your own software at all times; that you are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of Christian worship; freedom of property; and freedom of the press.%0a\ No newline at end of file%0a
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diff:1596354702:1596345848:=1,12c1,28%0a%3c ->The only slogan of a free network ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->In creating a network, the difficulty is you must allow the staff to control the users; and afterwards to control itself.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” ~ Memoirs of the life and writings of Benjamin Franklin, 1818%0a%3c %0a%3c ->The corporations are afraid to trust the people with access to software.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->The truth is, all might be free, if they valued freedom and defended it as they ought.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->Oper abuse cannot maintain itself while there is a large body of users familiar with free software, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow users.%0a%3c %0a---%0a> “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” ~ Memoirs of the life and writings of Benjamin Franklin, 1818%0a> %0a> “The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” ~ notes for an oration at Braintree, Spring 1772%0a> %0a> “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.” ~ The Federalist No. 51, February 6, 1788%0a> %0a> “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments … forms a foorier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments of the several kingdoms of Europe, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” ~ The Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788%0a> %0a> “The truth is, all might be free, if they valued freedom and defended it as they ought.” ~ published in the Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771 under the name “Candidus”%0a> %0a> “The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv’d them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas’d them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath’d to us from the former, for the sake of the latter—instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that ‘if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.’ It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.” ~ published in the Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771 under the name “Candidus”%0a> %0a> “Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.” ~ The Rights of the Colonists, 1772%0a> %0a> %0a> “[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens.” — The Federalist, No. 29%0a> Thomas Paine, of Pennsylvania:%0a> %0a> “[A]rms 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.” — Thoughts On Defensive War, 1775%0a> %0a> “Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.” — Virginia`s U.S. Constitution ratification convention%0a> %0a> “I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.” – George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4, 1788%0a> %0a> “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788%0a> %0a> “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.” – James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789%0a> %0a15,19c31,44%0a%3c ->Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->Always remember that users, well-trained in free software, is the fortress of a free network.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->It is your right and duty to use and run your own software at all times; that you are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of Christian worship; freedom of property; and freedom of the press.%0a\ No newline at end of file%0a---%0a> "As the military forces which must occasionally be raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article (of amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms." — Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Patrick Henry of Virginia:%0a> %0a> "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel." — Virginia's U.S. Constitution ratification convention%0a> %0a> %0a> “Always remember that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics – that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe.”%0a> %0a> “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, (as in electing their functionaries executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, both fact and law, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved) or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; 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.”%0a> %0a> “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” ~ letter to Archibald Stuart, Philadelphia, December 23, 1791 (Technically, this quote is not referring directly to the second amendment, but rather refers to the writing of the constitution. We included it because it is concerns the amount of control the government should have.)%0a
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diff:1596345848:1596345550:=30a31,34%0a> ->No staff can ever be deprive the people of their liberties so long as there is a large number of users who are familiar with the software, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-users.%0a> %0a> ->Access to the software is the birthright of every user. The power of the code is not in the hands of staff alone but in the hands of the users.%0a> %0a34a39,68%0a> Noah Webster of Pennsylvania:%0a> %0a> "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. 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. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power." — An Examination of The Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Alexander Hamilton of New York:%0a> %0a> "[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens." — The Federalist, No. 29%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Thomas Paine of Pennsylvania:%0a> %0a> "[A]rms 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." — Thoughts On Defensive War, 1775%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Fisher Ames of Massachusetts:%0a> %0a> "The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people." — Letter to F.R. Minoe, June 12, 1789%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts:%0a> %0a> "What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins." — Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a39c73,93%0a%3c %0a---%0a> %0a> %0a> For more information, see Halbrook, Stephen P., "The Right of the People or the Power of the State: Bearing Arms, Arming Militias, and the Second Amendment," Valparaiso Univ. Law Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, Fall, 1991; and "That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right," Univ. of N.M. Press, 1984%0a> %0a> %0a> “O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms, wherewith you could defend yourselves, are gone; and you have no longer an aristrocratical, no longer a democratical spirit. Did you ever read of any revolution in a nation, brought about by the punishment of those in power, inflicted by those who had no power at all?”%0a> %0a> Founding Fathers Quotes on Guns and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the Second Amendment“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.”%0a> %0a> “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. 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.”%0a> %0a> “There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.”%0a> %0a> “Whenever governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.”%0a> %0a> “A people who would stand fast in their liberty, should furnish themselves with weapons proper for their defence, and learn the use of them. It is indeed an hard case, that those who are happy in the blessings of providence, and disposed to live peaceably with all men, should be obliged to keep up the idea of blood and slaughter, and expend their time and treasure to acquire the arts and instruments of death. But this is a necessity which the depravity of human nature has laid upon every state. Nor was there ever a people that continued, for any considerable time, in the enjoyment of liberty, who were not in a capacity to defend themselves against invaders, unless they were too poor and inconsiderable to tempt an enemy.”%0a> %0a> “For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.”%0a> %0a> “Men are also bound, individuals and societies, to take care of their temporal happiness, and do all they lawfully can, to promote it. But what can be more inconsistent with this duty, than submitting to great encroachments upon our liberty? Such submission tends to slavery; and compleat slavery implies every evil that the malice of man and devils can inflict.”%0a> %0a40a95,103%0a> %0a> “In a general view there are very few conquests that repay the charge of making them, and mankind are pretty well convinced that it can never be worth their while to go to war for profit sake. If they are made war upon, their country invaded, or their existence at stake, it is their duty to defend and preserve themselves, but in every other light and from every other cause is war inglorious and detestable.”%0a> %0a> “The ultimate authority...resides in the people alone...The advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition.”%0a> %0a> “Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in our possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?”%0a> %0a> “None but an armed nation can dispense with a standing army.”%0a> %0a
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diff:1596345550:1596345135:=20a21,37%0a> Advertisement - story continues below%0a> %0a> 4795007871%0a> Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts:%0a> %0a> “The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people.” — Letter to F.R. Minoe, June 12, 1789%0a> %0a> Advertisement - story continues below%0a> Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts:%0a> %0a> “What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins.” — Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789%0a> %0a> PatrickHenry%0a> Patrick Henry, of Virginia:%0a> %0a> Advertisement - story continues below%0a> %0a29,36c46,106%0a%3c ->If the staff of a network betray their users, there is nothing left but the right to fork against the tyranny.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->No staff can ever be deprive the people of their liberties so long as there is a large number of users who are familiar with the software, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-users.%0a%3c %0a%3c ->Access to the software is the birthright of every user. The power of the code is not in the hands of staff alone but in the hands of the users.%0a%3c %0a%3c "As the military forces which must occasionally be raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article (of amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms." — Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789%0a%3c %0a---%0a> “The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” – Samuel Adams, Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, 1788%0a> %0a> “What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty …. Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.” – Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, I Annals of Congress 750, August 17, 1789%0a> %0a> “If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state. In a single state, if the persons entrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28%0a> %0a> “[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28, January 10, 1788%0a> %0a> To disarm the people…[i]s the most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, referencing advice given to the British Parliament by Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, June 14, 1788%0a> %0a> In light of the overwhelming evidence from the men who crafted the Declaration, wrote the Constitution, included the Bill of Rights, and led the United States during its first decades of existence it is abundantly clear to all but the very gullible (or those who would impose tyranny), that our founders wished us to be armed. They demanded we be armed. And in force, capability and training so as to thwart any infringement by a runaway government. Noah Webster, often considered the father of American Education and Scholarship wrote:%0a> %0a> “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. 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, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787%0a> %0a> George Washington was concerned that a Civilian Militia would be lacking in training and organization, and so he wrote, “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.”%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Thomas Jefferson of Virginia:%0a> %0a> "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." — Proposed Virginia Constitution, 1776%0a> %0a> "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." — Jefferson's "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764%0a> %0a> George Mason of Virginia:%0a> %0a> "[W]hen the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually.". . . I ask, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers." — Virginia's U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788%0a> %0a> "That the People have a right to keep and bear Arms; that a well regulated Militia, composed of the Body of the People, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe Defence of a free state." — Within Mason`s declaration of "the essential and unalienable Rights of the People," — later adopted by the Virginia ratification convention, 1788%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Samuel Adams of Massachusetts:%0a> %0a> "The said Constitution [shall] be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." — Massachusetts' U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> William Grayson of Virginia:%0a> %0a> "[A] string of amendments were presented to the lower House; these altogether respected personal liberty." — Letter to Patrick Henry, June 12, 1789, referring to the introduction of what became the Bill of Rights%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Richard Henry Lee of Virginia:%0a> %0a> "A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves . . . and include all men capable of bearing arms. . . To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms... The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle." — Additional Letters From The Federal Farmer, 1788%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> James Madison of Virginia:%0a> %0a> The Constitution preserves "the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation. . . (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." — The Federalist, No. 46%0a> %0a> %0a> %0a> Tench Coxe of Pennsylvania:%0a> %0a> "The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unnecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops, and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them." — An American Citizen, Oct. 21, 1787%0a> %0a> "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 . . . . The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." — The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788%0a
64
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jrmu
host:1596345550=38.81.163.143
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2023-01-22
jrmu
author:1596345135=jrmu
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jrmu
diff:1596345135:1596345135:=1,180d0%0a%3c “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” ~ Memoirs of the life and writings of Benjamin Franklin, 1818%0a%3c %0a%3c “The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.” ~ notes for an oration at Braintree, Spring 1772%0a%3c %0a%3c “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.” ~ The Federalist No. 51, February 6, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments … forms a foorier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments of the several kingdoms of Europe, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” ~ The Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c “The truth is, all might be free, if they valued freedom and defended it as they ought.” ~ published in the Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771 under the name “Candidus”%0a%3c %0a%3c “The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv’d them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas’d them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath’d to us from the former, for the sake of the latter—instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that ‘if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.’ It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.” ~ published in the Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771 under the name “Candidus”%0a%3c %0a%3c “Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.” ~ The Rights of the Colonists, 1772%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c “[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens.” — The Federalist, No. 29%0a%3c Thomas Paine, of Pennsylvania:%0a%3c %0a%3c “[A]rms 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.” — Thoughts On Defensive War, 1775%0a%3c %0a%3c Advertisement - story continues below%0a%3c %0a%3c 4795007871%0a%3c Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts:%0a%3c %0a%3c “The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people.” — Letter to F.R. Minoe, June 12, 1789%0a%3c %0a%3c Advertisement - story continues below%0a%3c Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts:%0a%3c %0a%3c “What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins.” — Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789%0a%3c %0a%3c PatrickHenry%0a%3c Patrick Henry, of Virginia:%0a%3c %0a%3c Advertisement - story continues below%0a%3c %0a%3c “Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.” — Virginia`s U.S. Constitution ratification convention%0a%3c %0a%3c “I ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.” – George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c “Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.” – James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789%0a%3c %0a%3c “The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” – Samuel Adams, Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c “What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty …. Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.” – Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, I Annals of Congress 750, August 17, 1789%0a%3c %0a%3c “If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state. In a single state, if the persons entrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28%0a%3c %0a%3c “[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28, January 10, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c To disarm the people…[i]s the most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, referencing advice given to the British Parliament by Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, June 14, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c In light of the overwhelming evidence from the men who crafted the Declaration, wrote the Constitution, included the Bill of Rights, and led the United States during its first decades of existence it is abundantly clear to all but the very gullible (or those who would impose tyranny), that our founders wished us to be armed. They demanded we be armed. And in force, capability and training so as to thwart any infringement by a runaway government. Noah Webster, often considered the father of American Education and Scholarship wrote:%0a%3c %0a%3c “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. 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, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787%0a%3c %0a%3c George Washington was concerned that a Civilian Militia would be lacking in training and organization, and so he wrote, “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.”%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Thomas Jefferson of Virginia:%0a%3c %0a%3c "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." — Proposed Virginia Constitution, 1776%0a%3c %0a%3c "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." — Jefferson's "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764%0a%3c %0a%3c George Mason of Virginia:%0a%3c %0a%3c "[W]hen the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually.". . . I ask, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers." — Virginia's U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c "That the People have a right to keep and bear Arms; that a well regulated Militia, composed of the Body of the People, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe Defence of a free state." — Within Mason`s declaration of "the essential and unalienable Rights of the People," — later adopted by the Virginia ratification convention, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Samuel Adams of Massachusetts:%0a%3c %0a%3c "The said Constitution [shall] be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." — Massachusetts' U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c William Grayson of Virginia:%0a%3c %0a%3c "[A] string of amendments were presented to the lower House; these altogether respected personal liberty." — Letter to Patrick Henry, June 12, 1789, referring to the introduction of what became the Bill of Rights%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Richard Henry Lee of Virginia:%0a%3c %0a%3c "A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves . . . and include all men capable of bearing arms. . . To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms... The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle." — Additional Letters From The Federal Farmer, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c James Madison of Virginia:%0a%3c %0a%3c The Constitution preserves "the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation. . . (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." — The Federalist, No. 46%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Tench Coxe of Pennsylvania:%0a%3c %0a%3c "The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unnecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops, and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them." — An American Citizen, Oct. 21, 1787%0a%3c %0a%3c "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 . . . . The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." — The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788%0a%3c %0a%3c "As the military forces which must occasionally be raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article (of amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms." — Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Noah Webster of Pennsylvania:%0a%3c %0a%3c "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. 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. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power." — An Examination of The Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Alexander Hamilton of New York:%0a%3c %0a%3c "[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens." — The Federalist, No. 29%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Thomas Paine of Pennsylvania:%0a%3c %0a%3c "[A]rms 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." — Thoughts On Defensive War, 1775%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Fisher Ames of Massachusetts:%0a%3c %0a%3c "The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people." — Letter to F.R. Minoe, June 12, 1789%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts:%0a%3c %0a%3c "What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins." — Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c Patrick Henry of Virginia:%0a%3c %0a%3c "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel." — Virginia's U.S. Constitution ratification convention%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c For more information, see Halbrook, Stephen P., "The Right of the People or the Power of the State: Bearing Arms, Arming Militias, and the Second Amendment," Valparaiso Univ. Law Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, Fall, 1991; and "That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right," Univ. of N.M. Press, 1984%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c “O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms, wherewith you could defend yourselves, are gone; and you have no longer an aristrocratical, no longer a democratical spirit. Did you ever read of any revolution in a nation, brought about by the punishment of those in power, inflicted by those who had no power at all?”%0a%3c %0a%3c Founding Fathers Quotes on Guns and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the Second Amendment“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.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. 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.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “Whenever governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “A people who would stand fast in their liberty, should furnish themselves with weapons proper for their defence, and learn the use of them. It is indeed an hard case, that those who are happy in the blessings of providence, and disposed to live peaceably with all men, should be obliged to keep up the idea of blood and slaughter, and expend their time and treasure to acquire the arts and instruments of death. But this is a necessity which the depravity of human nature has laid upon every state. Nor was there ever a people that continued, for any considerable time, in the enjoyment of liberty, who were not in a capacity to defend themselves against invaders, unless they were too poor and inconsiderable to tempt an enemy.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “Men are also bound, individuals and societies, to take care of their temporal happiness, and do all they lawfully can, to promote it. But what can be more inconsistent with this duty, than submitting to great encroachments upon our liberty? Such submission tends to slavery; and compleat slavery implies every evil that the malice of man and devils can inflict.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “Always remember that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics – that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “In a general view there are very few conquests that repay the charge of making them, and mankind are pretty well convinced that it can never be worth their while to go to war for profit sake. If they are made war upon, their country invaded, or their existence at stake, it is their duty to defend and preserve themselves, but in every other light and from every other cause is war inglorious and detestable.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “The ultimate authority...resides in the people alone...The advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in our possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?”%0a%3c %0a%3c “None but an armed nation can dispense with a standing army.”%0a%3c %0a%3c %0a%3c “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, (as in electing their functionaries executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, both fact and law, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved) or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; 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.”%0a%3c %0a%3c “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” ~ letter to Archibald Stuart, Philadelphia, December 23, 1791 (Technically, this quote is not referring directly to the second amendment, but rather refers to the writing of the constitution. We included it because it is concerns the amount of control the government should have.)%0a
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host:1596345135=38.81.163.143
IRCNow