"[Today's ruling] would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons." - Heller vs. the District of Columbia, Dissenting Opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens
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"No free man 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, Proposed Virginia Constitution, T. Jefferson Papers
"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials." — George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on Ratification of the Constitution
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed." - Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers
"The great object is, that every man be armed ... Every one who is able may have a gun." - Patrick Henry
"O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people!" - Patrick Henry, in Virginia Ratifying Convention demanding a guarantee of the right to bear arms
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“That history showed that the way tyrants had eliminated a militia consisting of all the able-bodied men was not by banning the militia but simply by taking away the people’s arms, enabling a select militia or standing army to suppress political opponents . . . During the 1788 ratification debates, the fear that the federal government would disarm the people in order to impose rule through a standing army or select militia was pervasive in Anti-federalist rhetoric.” - Heller vs. the District of Columbia, Majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia
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This is no small concern. What was ruled on today was literally the life and liberty of every American citizen. A coworker of mine said he was more concerned with finding a new controller for his Tiger Woods video game. I went to Subway for lunch, and the line stretched out the door with staring people who were not talking about anything, much less the Heller ruling. I passed cars on Merrimon Avenue; were their drivers armed, or fearing others who were?
To paraphrase Johnny Cash, those who ignore Heller are "rich folks eating in a fancy dining car, drinking coffee and smoking big cigars," oblivious to their engineer, their direction, and their tracks. "I know I had it coming," says the man in Folsom Prison. "I know I can't be free."
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A Declaration of Arms:
About the project
An ongoing documentary project focusing on gun owners and their sport. Centered around the On Target Shooting Range in Asheville, NC, the project records the moments, passions, and concerns that are unique to America’s gun owners.
The Declaration of Arms, a little-known historical document, was composed by the Second Continental Congress as an explanation for their use of force against the British. Something of these intentions still exists today, at On Target, where men and women declare their intent to govern themselves by whatever force necessary.
The Declaration of Arms, a little-known historical document, was composed by the Second Continental Congress as an explanation for their use of force against the British. Something of these intentions still exists today, at On Target, where men and women declare their intent to govern themselves by whatever force necessary.
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