"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 writing in "Letters from the Federal
Farmer to the Republic", 1787-1788
"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." -George Mason, during Virginia's ratification convention, 1788
"The usual road to slavery is that first they take away your guns, then they take away your property, then last of all they tell you to shut up and say you are enjoying it." -- James A. Donald
"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny."
-- Thomas Jefferson.
"The claim and exercise of a Constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime."
-- Miller v US, 230 F 2d 486, 489
Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal changes in the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep.
-Mikhail Gorbachev