US Supreme Court Also Decides NOT to Look at Mail-In Ballot (Bonner) Case
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What I find flawed about the current understanding of the so-called Plan is that our Founding Father's made NO Provision for a standing army, and even said a standing army was the bane of liberty and the tool of tyrants. They would not have depended on a government controlled entity to save them, they would have taken it upon themselves to do so.
They were clear in every document they wrote, in every speech they gave, and even in their personal correspondence's, that it was the People that had the inherent right to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
“Under every government the [last] resort of the people, is an appeal to the sword; whether to defend themselves against the open attacks of a foreign enemy, or to check the insidious encroachments of domestic foes. Whenever a people ... entrust the defense of their country to a regular, standing army, composed of mercenaries, the power of that country will remain under the direction of the most wealthy citizens.” ~ A Framer Anonymous 'framer' of the US Constitution Independent Gazetteer, January 29, 1791
“It is always dangerous to the liberties of the people to have an army stationed among them, over which they have no control ... The Militia is composed of free Citizens. There is therefore no danger of their making use of their Power to the destruction of their own Rights, or suffering others to invade them.” ~ Samuel Adams (1722-1803), was known as the "Father of the American Revolution." 3 Samuel Adams, Writings 251 (Henry A. Cushing Ed., 1906).
“Mr. Madison has introduced his long expected amendments... The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people.” ~ Fisher Ames (1758-1808), American statesman, orator and political writer
“The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government. It is one of the "high powers" delegated directly to the citizen, and 'is excepted out of the general powers of government.' A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law, and independent of the lawmaking power.” ~ Cockrum v. State 24 Tex. 394, at 401-402 (1859)
“While the people have property, arms in their hands, and only a spark of noble spirit, the most corrupt Congress must be mad to form any project of tyranny.” ~ Rev. Nicholas Collin (1746-1831) Episcopal pastor, friend of Benjamin Franklin Fayetteville Gazette (N.C.), October 12, 1789
Maine Constitution Quote “Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms; and this right shall never be questioned.” ~ Maine Constitution article I, section 16.
“Whereas civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as military forces, which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.” ~ Tench Coxe (1755-1824) American political economist Writing as "A Pennsylvanian," in "Remarks On The First Part Of The Amendments To The Federal Constitution," in the Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789, p.2 col.1
“The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be tremendous and irresistible. 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 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 (1755-1824) American political economist Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788
“Standing armies consist of professional soldiers who owe their livelihood and income to the government. Unlike civilians who render periodic service in local militia, professional soldiers do not own property and therefore do not have any source of income other than the government’s military paymaster. Thus, they are more likely to serve the government’s interests, regardless of whether its leaders are dishonest and corrupt or not. In fact, standing armies may even promote rapacious foreign or domestic policies if such policies enrich the army. In contrast, arms bearing, property owning citizen militiamen have a stake in the health of the republic as a whole and can be trusted to act in the republic’s best interests, whether those interests call for action in support of or against the political leadership of the nation.” ~ Anthony J. Dennis Officer and lawyer for Aetna Life and Casualty Company, author, B.A. cum laude from Tufts University; J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law Article: Clearing the Smoke from the right to Bear Arms and the Second Amendment, 29 AKRON L. REV. 57, 76-77 (Fall 1995).
“[R]estricting arms to the military and police eviscerates the principle that power should flow from the people to government, and turns the government into a master rather than a servant.” ~ Robert Dowlut General Counsel for the National Rifle Association Arms: A Right to Self-Defense Against Criminals and Despots, 8 Stanford L. & Policy Rev. 25 (1997).
“Because this right [of self-defense] cannot be effectively exercised with bare hands, the right to keep and bear arms is the only efficient way to secure the fundamental right of self-defense.” ~ Robert Dowlut General Counsel for the National Rifle Association Arms: A Right to Self-Defense Against Criminals and Despots, 8 Stanford L. & Pol'y Rev. 25 (1997).
“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.” ~ Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) of Massachusetts, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Member of the Constitutional Convention spoken during floor debate over the Second Amendment, I Annals of Congress at 750, August 17, 1789
“A martial nobility and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and collected into constitutional assemblies form the only balance capable of preserving a free constitution against the enterprise of an aspiring prince.” ~ Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian and Member of Parliament The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 53 (Modern Library Ed. 1983)
“Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others. ... The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.” ~ Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) American statesman, Secretary of the Treasury Federalist No. 34, January 4, 1788
“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense...” ~ Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) American statesman, Secretary of the Treasury The Federalist Papers, No. 28
“But if 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 use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights” ~ Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) American statesman, Secretary of the Treasury Federalist, No. 29
“The police of a state should never be stronger or better armed than the citizenry. An armed citizenry, willing to fight, is the foundation of civil freedom.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer Beyond This Horizon, 1942.
“Let Mr. Madison tell me when did liberty ever exist when the sword and the purse were given up from the people? Unless a miracle shall interpose, no nation ever did, nor ever can retain its liberty after the loss of the sword and the purse.” ~ Patrick Henry (1736-1799) US Founding Father 3 J. Elliot, The Debates In The Several States Conventions On The Adoption Of The Federal Constitution 168-69 (1836 Reprinted 1941).
“Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defence, the militia, is put in the hands of Congress?” ~ Patrick Henry (1736-1799) US Founding Father
“That is reserved expressly to the States and is not granted to the Federal Government by our national charter. The Federal Government has nothing to do under the Constitution with the preservation of public order. To pass this bill is to pass a bill for an unconstitutional purpose, under the guise of regulating interstate commerce.” ~ George Huddleston (1869-1960) US Congressman (D-AL) 1930 House Firearms Hearing, supra note 45, at 15.
“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.” ~ Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978) US Vice-President, US Senator (D-MN) "Know Your Lawmakers," Guns magazine, February 1960, p.6
“What country before ever existed a century and a half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” ~ Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President November 13, 1787, letter to William S. Smith, quoted in Padover's Jefferson On Democracy, ed., 1939
“The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them.” ~ Zachariah Johnson June 25, 1788, Virginia Constitutional Ratification Convention. Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, ed., v.3 p.646 (Philadelphia, 1836)
“It is true, the yeomanry of the country possess the lands, the weight of property, possess arms, and are too strong a body of men to be openly offended—and, therefore, it is urged, they will take care of themselves, that men who shall govern will not dare pay any disrespect to their opinions. It is easily perceived, that if they have not their proper negative upon passing laws in congress, or on the passage of laws relative to taxes and armies, they may in twenty or thirty years be by means imperceptible to them, totally deprived of that boasted weight and strength: This may be done in great measure by congress.” ~ Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794) Founding Father Letters From The Federal Farmer (1787)
“A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves...and include all men capable of bearing arms.” ~ Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794) Founding Father Additional Letters from the Federal Framer (1788) at p. 169
“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 (1732-1794) Founding Father
“We are told there is no cause to fear. When we consider the great powers of Congress, there is great cause of alarm. They can disarm the militia. If they were armed, they would be a resource against great oppressions. The laws of a great empire are difficult to be executed. If the laws of the union were oppressive, they could not carry them into effect, if the people were possessed of the proper means of defence.” ~ William Lenoir advocating for the addition of a Bill of Rights to the Federal Constitution in the North Carolina Convention on the ratification of the Constitution, in 'Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution,' Jonathan Elliot, ed., v.4 p.203 (Philadelphia, 1836)
“The highest number to which a standing army can be carried in any country does not exceed one hundredth part of the souls, or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This portion would not yield, in the United States, an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. It may well be doubted whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. ... Besides the advantage of being armed, ... the existence of subordinate governments ... forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. ... [The governments of Europe] are afraid to trust the people with arms. ... Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors.” ~ James Madison (1751-1836), Father of the Constitution for the USA, 4th US President The Federalist Papers, No. 46
“That the people have a Right to mass and to bear arms; that a well regulated militia composed of the Body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper natural and safe defense of a free State...” ~ George Mason (1725-1792), drafted the Virgina Declaration of Rights, ally of James Madison and George Washington Within Mason's declaration of "the essential and unalienable Rights of the People," -- drafted by Thomas Jefferson, George Mason and others, and later adopted by the Virginia ratification convention, 1788
“Who are the militia, if they be not the people of this country...? I ask, who are the militia? They consist of now of the whole people, except a few public officers.” ~ George Mason (1725-1792), drafted the Virgina Declaration of Rights, ally of James Madison and George Washington in the Virginia Convention on the ratification of the Constitution, June 16, 1788, in_Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution,_ Jonathan Elliot, ed., v.3 p.425 (Philadelphia, 1836)
“To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” ~ George Mason (1725-1792), drafted the Virgina Declaration of Rights, ally of James Madison and George Washington June 14, 1788, in the Virginia Convention on the ratification of the Constitution, in_Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution,_ Jonathan Elliot, ed., v.3 p.380 (Philadelphia, 1836)
“Of the liberty of conscience in matters of religious faith, of speech and of the press; of the trial by jury of the vicinage in civil and criminal cases; of the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus; of the right to keep and bear arms.... If these rights are well defined, and secured against encroachment, it is impossible that government should ever degenerate into tyranny.” ~ James Monroe (1758-1831), 5th US President
“ 'The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.' 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 such merely as are used by the milita, shall not be infringed, curtailed, or broken in upon, in the smallest degree; and all this for the important end to be attained: the rearing up and qualifying a well-regulated militia, so vitally necessary to the security of a free State. Our opinion is that any law, State or Federal, is repugnant to the Constitution, and void, which contravenes this right.” ~ Nunn vs. State 1 Ga. (1 Kel.) 243, at 251(1846)
“From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms! Through the land let the sound of it flee; Let the far and the near all unite, with a cheer, In defense of our Liberty Tree.” ~ Thomas Paine (1737-1809) US Founding father, pamphleteer, author
“But, sir, the people themselves have it in their power effectually to resist usurpation, without being driven to an appeal of arms. An act of usurpation is not obligatory; it is not law; and any man may be justified in his resistance. Let him be considered as a criminal by the general government, yet only his fellow-citizens can convict him; they are his jury, and if they pronounce him innocent, not all the powers of Congress can hurt him; and innocent they certainly will pronounce him, if the supposed law he resisted was an act of usurpation.” ~ Theophilus Parsons (1750-1813) in the Massachusetts Convention on the ratification of the Constitution, January 23, 1788, in Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, ed., v.2 p.94 (Philadelphia, 1836)
“The provision in the Constitution granting the right to all persons to bear arms is a limitation upon the power of the Legislature to enact any law to the contrary. The exercise of a right guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be made subject to the will of the sheriff.” ~ People vs. Zerillo 219 Mich. 635, 189 N.W. 927, at 928 (1922)
“[It is a basic principle of a tyrant] to unarm his people of weapons, money, and all means whereby they resist his power.” ~ Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) 3 The Works of Sir Walter Raleigh 22 (T. Birch ed. 1829)
“The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give congress a power to disarm the people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general pretense by a state legislature. But if in any blind pursuit of inordinate power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both.” ~ William Rawle (1759-1836) Lawyer, had been asked several times by George Washington to serve as Attorney General commenting on the Second Amendment, A VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 125-26, 1829 (2nd ed.) reprinted in THE FOUNDERS’ CONSTITUTION Volume Five (Amendments I-XII) p. 214 (Univ. of Chicago Press).
“Nowhere else in the Constitution does a 'right' attributed to 'the people' refer to anything other than an individual right. What is more, in all six other provisions of the Constitution that mention 'the people,' the term unambiguously refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset... The Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms... The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it ‘shall not be infringed.'” ~ Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016) American jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States District of Columbia v. Heller, June 26, 2008, striking down D.C.'s gun ban as unconstitutional
“In a militia, the character of the laborer, artificer, or tradesman, predominates over that of the soldier: in a standing army, that of the soldier predominates over every other character...” ~ Adam Smith (1723-1790) Scottish philosopher and economist
“[F]or everybody has a natural right to defend his own person and property against aggressors, but also to go to the assistance and defence of everybody else, whose person or property is invaded. The natural right of each individual to defend his own person and property against an aggressor, and to go to the assistance and defence of every one else whose person or property is invaded, is a right without which men could not exist on earth.” ~ Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) Political theorist, activist, abolitionist Vices are Not Crimes, A Vindication of Moral Liberty (1875)
“No free government was ever founded or ever preserved its liberty, without uniting the characters of the citizen and soldier in those destined for the defense of the state.... Such are a well regulated militia, composed of the freeholders, citizen and husbandman, who take up arms to preserve their property, as individuals, and their rights as freemen.” ~ State Gazette (Charleston)
“The maintenance of the right to bear arms is a most essential one to every free people and should not be whittled down by technical constructions.” ~ State vs. Kerner 181 N.C. 574, 107 S.E. 222, at 224 (1921)
“This declaration ... gives to every man the right to arm himself in any manner he may choose, however unusual or dangerous the weapons he may employ, and thus armed, to appear wherever he may think proper, without molestation or hindrance, and that any law regulating his social conduct, by restraining the use of any weapon or regulating the manner in which it shall be carried, is beyond the legislative competency to enact, and is void.” ~ Tennessee Supreme Court Aymette v. State, 21 TENN. 152, 153, 2 HUM. 154, 156 (1840).
“It's the misfortune of all Countries, that they sometimes lie under a unhappy necessity to defend themselves by Arms against the ambition of their Governors, and to fight for what's their own. If those in government are heedless of reason, the people must patiently submit to Bondage, or stand upon their own Defence; which if they are enabled to do, they shall never be put upon it, but their Swords may grow rusty in their hands; for that Nation is surest to live in Peace, that is most capable of making War; and a Man that hath a Sword by his side, shall have least occasion to make use of it.” ~ John Trenchard (1662-1723) and Walter Moyle (1672-1721), "An Argument, shewing; that a standing Army is Inconsistent with a Free Government and Absolutely Destructive to the Constitution of the English Monarchy," (London, 1697)
“The right of the people peacefully to assemble for lawful purposes existed long before the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. In fact, it is and always has been one of the attributes of a free government. It 'derives its source,' to use the language of Chief Justice Marshall, in 'Gibbons v Ogden,' 9 Wheat., 211, 'from those laws whose authority is acknowledged by civilized man throughout the world.' It is found wherever civilization exists. It was not... a right granted to the people by the Constitution... The second and tenth counts are equally defective. The right there specified is that of 'bearing arms for a lawful purpose.' This is not a right granted by the constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence.” ~ U.S. vs. Cruickshan 92 US 542; (1875)
“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite.” ~ George Washington (1732-1799) Founding Father, 1st US President, 'Father of the Country'
“Another source of power in government is a military force. But this, to be efficient, must be superior to any force that exists among the people, or which they can command; for otherwise this force would be annihilated, on the first exercise of acts of oppression. 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 pretense, 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, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.” ~ Noah Webster (1758-1843) American patriot and scholar, author of the first dictionary of American English usage (1806) and the author of the 1828 edition of the dictionary that bears his name. An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787
“To prohibit a citizen from wearing or carrying a war arm ... is an unwarranted restriction upon the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of constitutional privilege.” ~ Wilson v. State 33 Ark. 557, at 560, 34Am. Rep. 52, at 54 (1878)
Hopefully, you will gain a little insight into my thought process regarding hope that an already compromised standing military under the control of an actual usurper tyrant within our Constitutional Republic, is, somehow, going to rescue us from the tyranny we currently find ourselves under.
I served 8 years in the United States Army and took my oath very seriously. Back when i served, not very many Soldiers would have heeded a call to march against American Citizens, but there were still those that would have.
Today, I feel the balance has tipped the opposite direction.
Our government has used our military against civilians, so there is already a proven precedent of our standing army marching against, and killing, American Citizens:
July 28, 1932: Bonus Army Attacked: On July 28, 1932 the U.S. government attacked World War I veterans with tanks, bayonets, and tear gas, under the leadership of textbook heroes Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The WWI vets were part of a Bonus Army who came to Washington, D.C. to make a demand for their promised wartime bonuses.
I truly do hope there are a group of "White Hats" in military ready to save the day, but my own military experience and knowledge do not lend a lot of credence to that theory, especially considering the damage already done to our Constitutional Republic under Both Bush's, Clinton, Obama, and now under a true usurper ushering in communism, Biden.
Our elections are unsecure, al 3 branches of federal government are compromised, and our military decimated and demoralized to the point that very few competent men and women remain within the ranks.
I suspect that it will be up to patriots forming modern militias that w eventually have to step up, but doesn't seem likely with the divisions among the citizens across our entire Republic.
I feel like the CIA, FBI, IRS, et al, is their (the Gov't) way around not having a standing army.
THIS is already happening. Anyway, thank you for posting all these quotes.