"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])
"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." (James Madison, The Federalist Papers #46 at 243-244)
"And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms....The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants" (Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William S. Smith in 1787. Taken from Jefferson, On Democracy 20, S. Padover ed., 1939)
I live in Virginia and am a graduate of JMU, so I enjoyed reading what Madison and Jefferson had to say about an armed citizenry. The quotes above reflect the general attitude that the "right to bear arms" was meant as a safeguard for the citizenry against the bizzare tendency governments have to sometimes go rogue and no longer pursue the best interests of their people. That is the real reason they desired an armed citizenry, not so they could have the right to go hunting deer, etc.
I agree that using any data from our cities is a waste of time, the data will be so skewed because of all the gang violence there. The cities in this country have become shitholes...I live about an hour outside of Washington DC.....I can assure you that outside of the heavily policed NE/NW "tourist" sector of our Nation's capital is a dangerous ghetto...Richmond is even worse....
Sollannixx Mezzinwitu
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