How did our founding Fathers feel about gun control?
"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." The Second Amendment
"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." -- Thomas Jefferson's "Commonplace Book,"
"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." — George Washington
"Who are the Militia? They are the whole of the people, except for a few public servants" --George Mason, 1788
“If in
the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the
constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an
amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no
change by usurpation; for thought this, in one instance, may be the instrument
of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.”
George Washington in his Farewell Address (1796)
"On every question of construction (of the constitution) let us carry ourselves
back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit
manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed
out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it
was passed."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823
"The constitutions of most of our states [and of the United States] assert that
all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves;
that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed and that they are
entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and
freedom of press."
-- Thomas Jefferson
The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full
possession of them." Zachariah Johnson, 3 Elliot, Debates at 646 (June 25,
1788).
George Mason: "To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them."
(3 Elliot,
Debates at 380)
Alexander Hamilton: "...that standing army can never be formidable (threatening)
to the liberties
of the people, while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all
inferior to them in the use of arms."
(Federalist Paper #29)
“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 inevitably ruined.” Patrick
Henry, Virginia Ratification Convention 5 June 1788
"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in
the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed;..."
Thomas Jefferson letter to Justice John Cartwright, June 5, 1824. 1824. ME
16:45.
The whole of the Bill [of Rights] is a declaration of the right of the people at
large or considered as individuals … It establishes some rights of the
individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to
deprive them of." Albert Gallatin of the New York Historical Society, October 7,
1789
"The congress of the United States possesses no power to regulate, or interfere
with the domestic concerns, or police of any state: it belongs not to them to
establish any rules respecting the rights of property; nor will the constitution
permit any prohibition of arms to the people;…" Saint George Tucker,
Blackstone's Commentaries (1803), Volume 1, Appendix, Note D
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions,
that I wish it to be always kept alive." Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Abigail
Adams, February 22, 1787.
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 the 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." Joseph Story, Dane Professor of Law in Harvard
University, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833), Book
III at 746, § 1858