DC v. Heller (why the 2nd amendment matters)

“One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offence to keep arms." - Justice Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered Eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so." - Adolph Hitler, April 11, 1942 Tischegesprache Im Fuhrerhauptquartier

The right of self-defense is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and when the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction."
- Henry St. George Tucker (in Blackstone's Commentaries)

"The data show that (although exceptions can be found) the nations with the highest rates of gun ownership tend to have greater political and civil freedom, greater economic freedom and prosperity, and much less corruption than other nations." - Is There a Relationship between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results from 59 Nations