Stephen P. Halbrook > Quotes

“the Nazis confiscated firearms to prevent armed resistance, whether individual or collective, to their own criminality.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and Enemies of the State

“A vegetarian, the führer was sensitive to the feelings of animals and remarked: “The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would do well to turn its attention to the sportsmen themselves.”6 As the war and the Holocaust would prove, he had no such sensitivity to humans.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and Enemies of the State

“Patrick Henry shot back that the power to resist oppression rests upon the right to possess arms: Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“The Crown’s attempts to disarm the colonists as a contributing grievance in the chain of events leading to the American Revolution and the imperative of guaranteeing the right to have arms in bills of rights are themes that pervade the thinking of the Founders’ generation.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Timothy Dwight, a chaplain in the Connecticut Continental Brigade during the Revolution and later president of Yale College, would write: "The people of New-England have always had, and have by law always been required to have, arms in their hands. Every man is, or ought to be, in the possession of a musket." Yet he did not know of "a single instance, in which arms have been the instruments of carrying on a private quarrel."121”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Massachusettensis," pseudonym of Daniel Leonard, a prominent Massachusetts lawyer, penned several essays pleading America's cause. While he would soon transform into a Tory, as a Whig he made the following inflammatory remarks: Men combined to subvert our civil government, to plunder and murder us, can have no right to protection in their persons or properties among us; they have by their attempts upon our liberty, put themselves in a state of war with us, as Mr. Locke observes, and being the aggressors, if they perish, the fault is their own. "If any person in the best condition of the state, demands your purse at the muzzle of his pistol, you have no need to recur to law, you cannot give, i.e. immediate security against your adversary; and for that reason, viz. because the law cannot be applied to your relief, you make your own defence on the principles of natural law, which is now your only rule, and his life is forfeited into your hands, and you indemnified if you rake it, because he is the first and a dangerous aggressor." This rule applies itself to states, and to those employed by them to distress, rob or enslave other states; and shall property be secure where even life is forfeited?”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Madison thus saw the rights he would propose, such as freedom of the press and keeping and bearing arms, as not involving the structure or powers of government but as involving private rights. The "fallacy" of the English Declaration was that it was a mere legislative act that Parliament could repeal; by contrast, the American bill of rights would be part of the Constitution and not subject to repeal by Congress”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“As to the arms guarantee, the above tracked the language of the Pennsylvania Declaration of Rights of 1776 in guaranteeing the right to bear arms for self-defense and defense of the state.19 Similar to what would become the federal First Amendment, which begins "Congress shall make no law," the above proposed that a free press "shall not be restrained by any [federal] law" and that "no law shall be passed for disarming the people" as a whole "or any of them"—except that criminals or other dangerous persons could be disarmed. Bearing arms to hunt was not out of place in a bill of rights, in that British authorities had been notorious for disarming the people under the guise of game laws.20 The above clarifies that the term "bear arms" is not linguistically restricted to matters of the militia or the national defense.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“But as the Tenth Amendment confirms, “the people” also have “powers.” These powers include suffrage, jury duty, militia service, and other institutions in which the people govern, administer justice, keep order, disapprove of and nullify governmental actions, and otherwise participate in political society. As the Revolution proved, the ultimate power of the people that the Second Amendment helps secure is the ability to take arms to resist oppression and overthrow tyranny. In a constitutional republic, actual exercise of this power of the people would be rendered unnecessary.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Dissenting, Justice Stevens argued that the Second Amendment extended only to the individual “right to use weapons for certain military purposes”8—a curious position, given that militia service is a compulsory duty, and no person has a “right” to bear or use arms as he chooses in a militia or even to be a member thereof. It is noteworthy that no Justice supported the now-discredited “collective rights” theory.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Moreover, the Redcoats did seek to suppress militia activities in Boston, albeit not necessarily with success. In a December incident, it was reported that a parry of the militia being at exercise on Bosron common, a parry of the army surrounded them and rook away their fire arms; immediately thereupon a larger party of the militia assembled, pursued the Army, and retook their fire arms. Whereupon the Governor ordered the man of war to fire upon the Town, which was instantly obeyed; several houses were damaged, and only 6 people killed.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Thus, "the people" had a right to religious freedom and to have arms. Regarding the latter, New York followed Virginia in beginning with the declaration "that the people have a right to keep and bear arms," and then including a separate clause declaring the militia to be necessary for a free state. While Virginia referred to the militia as "composed of the body of the people, trained to arms,"27 New York characterized the militia as "including the body of the people capable of bearing arms.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“The black gunpowder of that age was far more volatile than modern smokeless powder. As a fire prevention measure, in 1736 the General Court had provided for the building of a powder house.33 Partly as a result of a 1771 petition by patriots such as John Hancock, Sam Adams, and Paul Revere, a new powder house was built on the west side of Boston, by the Charles River and just above the Common, safely away from populated areas to the east.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“The same debate was simmering in the Continental Congress. George Washington noted that "I did not think myself Authorised to seize upon any Arms the property of private Person; but if they can be collected and the owners satisfied for them, it would be of very essential service.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Upon receiving word of the arms embargo, the Boston Committee of Correspondence sent the news by Paul Revere to their friends in New Hampshire, warning them that two British ships would be proceeding to Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth to secure the Crown's materiel. On December 14, some 400 armed men approached the fort by boat and overran it.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Even so, the right of a pacifist not to bear arms was recognized too: "No person who is conscientiously scrupulous about the lawfulness of bearing arms, shall be compelled thereto, provided he will pay an equivalent."98 To be sure, the Bill of Rights had limits. The Protestant religion was state supported, and only Christians "shall be equally under the protection of the law."99 Freedom of speech was recognized only in the legislature.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“READABLE BY ANY CITIZEN This exhaustive textual analysis of the Second Amendment would never have been necessary in the nearly first two hundred years of the republic. It was only beginning in the second half of the twentieth century that the Orwellian view gained currency that “the people” means the states or state-conscripted militia, that “right” means governmental power, that “keep” does not mean to possess, that “bear” does not mean carry, that “arms” do not include ordinary handguns and rifles, and that “infringe” does not include prohibition. But the Founders intended to, and did, word the Second Amendment in an easy to understand manner. Individuals have a right to have arms in their houses and to carry them, and the government may not violate that right. Recognition of the right promotes a militia composed of the body of the people, which is necessary for a free society. The Bill of Rights was intended to inform the ordinary citizen of his or her rights. Its meaning is not a monopoly of the governmental entities whose powers it was intended to limit. St. George Tucker said it best in his 1803 treatise, the first ever published on the Constitution, as follows: A bill of rights may be considered, not only as intended to give law, and assign limits to a government about to be established, but as giving information to the people. By reducing speculative truths to fundamental laws, every man of the meanest capacity and understanding may learn his own rights, and know when they are violated ....47 By knowing when one’s rights are violated, the citizen may signify his or her displeasure through mechanisms such as the ballot box and the jury box, and may resort to speech, the press, assembly, and petition to denounce the evil. As the experiences of the American Revolution proved, the right to keep and bear arms serves as the ultimate check that the Founders hoped would dissuade persons at the helm of state from seeking to establish tyranny. In hindsight, it would be difficult to quarrel with the success of the Founders’ vision.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Josiah Quincy’s celebrated tome referred to “a well regulated militia composed of the freeholders, citizens, and husbandmen, who take up arms to preserve their property as individuals, and their rights as freemen.”98 He asked: “Who can be surprised, that princes and their subalterns discourage a martial spirit among the people, and endeavour to render useless and contemptible the militia, when this institution is the natural strength, and only stable safeguard, of a free country?”99 After all, “the supreme power is ever possessed by those who have arms in their hands, and are disciplined to the use of them.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Rome remained free for four hundred years and Sparta eight hundred, although their citizens were armed all that time; but many other states that have been disarmed have lost their liberties in less than forty years.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right

“Dr. Richard Price in 1779, "every inhabitant has in his house (as a part of his furniture) a book on law and government, to enable him to understand his civil rights; a musket to enable him to defend these rights; and a Bible to enable him to understand and practice his religion.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Some die-hard federalists continued to scorn declarations of rights. Representative Fisher Ames of Massachusetts privately quipped: Mr. Madison has introduced his long expected amendments. . . . He has hunted up all the grievances and complaints of newspapers, all the articles of conventions, and the small talk of their debates. It contains a bill of rights, the right of enjoying property, of changing the government at pleasure, freedom of the press, of conscience . . . . Oh! I had forgot, the right of the people to bear arms.24”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Parliament had indeed, in the English Bill of Rights of 1689, declared certain "true, ancient and indubitable rights," including: "That the Subjects which are Protestants, may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Condition, and as are allowed by Law." This stemmed from the grievance that James II had attempted to subvert "the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom," in part "By causing several good Subjects, being Protestants, to be disarmed, at the same Time when Papists were both armed and employed, contrary to law.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“The Virginia Declaration did not mention the right to assemble and to petition at all; it protected a free press but neglected free speech; and it included the above militia language but not the right to keep and bear arms. Also new was the allowance that standing armies should be avoided only "as far as" possible. The author apparent was George Mason, who simply added these new clauses to the Declaration's language he had drafted in 1776.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“The first was "a Declaration or Bill of Rights, asserting and securing from Encroachment, the Essential and unalienable Rights of the People."26 1t was an expanded version of the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, which Mason also penned. It contained three successive provisions beginning with identical terms: first, "That the People have a Right peaceably to assemble . . ."; second, "That the People have a Right to Freedom of Speech . . . "; and third, "That the People have a Right to keep 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 Defence of a free State . . .”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“John Laurance of New York defined the militia as "every man in the states who is capable of performing military duty, though not actually enrolled in any particular body," noting that "when the constitution was framed, some states were as yet unprovided with militia laws." Accordingly, "the militia must mean all persons without exception, who are capable of bearing arms in defence of their country . . . ."48 He argued that if conscientious objectors were to be exempted, it must be by state law, not the federal enactment—the view that would prevail.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“The term "bear," according to Noah Webster, meant "to carry" or "to wear; to bear as a mark of authority or distinction; as, to bear a sword, a badge, a name; to bear arms in a coat.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“Luther Martin of Maryland replied that "the states would never give up the power over the militia; and that, if they were to do so, the militia would be less attended to by the general than by the state governments."21 After Gerry warned that granting Congress powers inconsistent with the existence of the states would lead to civil war, Madison rejoined that "as the greatest danger to liberty is from large standing armies, it is best to prevent them by an effectual provision for a good militia.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms

“A citizenry “trained up unto their arms, which they use not for the defense of slavery but of liberty,” composes “the vastest body of a well-disciplined militia that is possible in nature.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right

“This argument—“We are all of us carried along by a fiery zeal to recover our liberty; our arms cannot be wrested from our hands,”97—was a politico-military ideal but an inaccurate prediction, for both Cicero and the Roman republic, in part due to the inferiority of their arms, were killed within the year by Caesar’s standing army.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right

“Virginia had taken the decisive step—this large and influential state ratified the Constitution but was committed to use her great influence to demand a bill of rights. The remaining states, both large (New York and North Carolina) and small (Rhode Island and the future state of Vermont), would ratify the Constitution and follow Virginia in insisting that individual rights be declared.”
― Stephen P. Halbrook, The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms