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Some Interesting History & Quotations

"In 872, under the laws of Alfred the Great, all English citizens were required to purchase their own weapons and be available for military duty.

In 1181, 'the whole community of freemen' between the ages of 15 and 40 were required by law to possess arms.

In 1253, that duty was extended to include the serfs and raised the age requirement to 60 years of age.

In 1285, Edward I commanded that all persons comply with the earlier laws and also added that 'anyone else who can afford them shall keep bows and arrows.'

In 1369, the King ordered that the sheriffs of London require all citizens at leisure time on holidays to use in their recreation bows and arrows and to stop all other games which might distract them from this practice.

In the colonies, availability of hunting and need for defense led to armament statutes comparable to those of the early Saxon times.

In 1623, Virginia forbade its colonists to travel unless they were 'well armed';

In 1631, it required colonists to engage in target practice on Sunday and to 'bring their peeces to church'.

In 1658, it required every householder to have a functioning firearm within his house,

In 1673, its laws provided that a citizen who claimed he was too poor to purchase a firearm would have one purchased for him by the government, which would require him to pay a reasonable price when able to do so. In Massachusetts, the first session of the legislature ordered that not only freemen, but also indentured servants own firearms, and,

In 1644 it imposed a stern 6 shilling fine upon any citizen who was not armed."

W. Cleon Skousen from The Making of America p. 696.

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own homestead, his possessions are undisturbed." Luke 11:21

"And He said to them, 'But now, let him who has a purse take it along, likewise also a bag, and let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one.'" Luke 22:36

"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials." George Mason.

"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom? Congress shall have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right 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." Tench Coxe (1788)

"When in 1837, Georgia totally banned the sale of pistols (excepting the larger pistols 'known and used as horsemen's pistols') and other weapons, the Georgia Supreme Court in Nunn v. State held the statute unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the federal Constitution. The court held that the Bill of Rights protected natural rights which were fully as capable of infringement by states as by the federal government and that the Second Amendment provided 'the right of the whole people, old and young, men, women and boys, and not militia only, to keep and bear arms of every description, and not merely such as are used by the militia, shall not be infringed, curtailed, or broken in on, in the slightest degree; and all this for the important end to be attained: the rearing up and qualifying of a well regulated militia, so vitally necessary to the security of a free state."

The militia of each state includes "all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and under 45 years of age who are or have [made] a declaration of intent to become citizens." Title 10, section 31 of the U.S. Code

"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence... From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable...The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference--they deserve a place of honor with all that's good." George Washington.

"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Thomas Jefferson.

"To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them..." Richard Henry Lee.

"If gun laws in fact worked, the sponsors of this type of legislation should have no difficulty drawing upon long lists of examples of crime rates reduced by such legislation. That they cannot do so after a century and a half of trying -- that they must sweep under the rug the southern attempts at gun control in the 1870-1910 period, the northeastern attempts in the 1920-1939 period, and the attempts at both Federal and State levels in 1965-1976 -- establishes the repeated, complete, and inevitable failure of gun laws to control serious crime." Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah)

In 1982, Kennesaw, Georgia passed a city gun ordinance that required heads of households to keep at least one firearm in their homes. Crimes against persons which include homicide, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and burglary, plummeted 74 percent the first year, dropped another 45 percent the next year, and has remained notably low ever since, despite a doubling of the population. From 1983 to 1993, armed robberies averaged a mere 1.6 annually, rapes 1.5, and murders (none with firearms) 0.2.

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." Samual Adams

Number of physicians in the U.S. : 700,000

Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year : 120,000

Accidental deaths per physician : 0.171

Number of gun owners in the U.S. : 80,000,000

Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) : 1,500

Accidental deaths per gun owner : 0.0000188

Therefore, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

"Resistance To Tyranny Is Obedience To GOD"
Thomas Jefferson