I would imagine that every state has this in its Constitution, and for good reason.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely...it is irrelevant who or how it corrupts. Our Founders recognized this and did their best to give us a Constitution that would not allow absolute power. Sadly, very low information voters and voter fraud have now given us a regime hell bent on destroying the last vestiges of that Constitution. The King is busy signing executive orders that allow for the government to kidnap and murder and somehow we've failed to recognize this want to be dictator for what he really is..."A Clear and Present Danger" to the security of the nation. But there's hope! People are waking up in droves...

Get Real Kenlaw! The Second Amendment is about "protecting" Constitutional rights. If City Council is making Un-Constitutional laws they aren't laws - get it?...you can figure the rest out, right?

Sounds like Sherman was giving himself carte blanche to do as he pleased...

And here Waffler does his best to "wax philosophical". Waffler...where does "in the woods" come into play? Do I not have a right as an urban homeowner to expect that my family and I can live unmolested by the great collective sheep herd?
Other than societal norms that naturally form among groups of people under a system of Justice...why should I be coerced into any level of compliance that fails to recognize individual rights and sovereignty as enshrined by the Constitution of the United States?

Um Waffler? What the hell are you going on about now?
Thoreau is pointing to the fact that (most) people need to have "sameness" in order to feel normal. But for some of us individuality is foremost and the right to be an individual should be absolute. It's a matter of choices...not force.

Since this is a pre-Constitutional quote we can only assume that Jonathan Swift saw England as a free nation by the standards of the day. It was not. It was a Monarchy absolute and brutal in its administrations. It was the brutality and finally the attempt at disarmament that actually lead to a revolution and the creation of what was to be the freest nation ever to have existed. Unfortunately the experiment in liberty and sovereignty is failing miserably and we are still following England's lead down the road to being a failed socialist welfare basket case.It's definately time to reassert American Sovereignty and hopefully get another two hundred years of freedom...for our kids ... and their kids....

Mary in Largo, the thought is never archaic and never will be. The fact that you think it is tells me that some of us have been lulled into a "very" false sense of security. Especially now, with an impostor in the White House and the UN calling the shots.

Bill R: Wilson V State of Arkansas - http://www.guncite.com/court/state/33ar557.html

Until a person has been declared a criminal in a court of Justice (imagine that) or been declared menatlly ill by a panel of physicians.... every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms. And it is a natural right granted by the laws of nature or nature's God. It is NOT granted by the state.

Otto...just an FYI: Fluoride is a by product of manufacturing Aluminum. It is also a slow poison.
If people want to ingest it that's fine if they "choose" to do so. However, to have it put in the public water supply is more than irresponsible, it's criminal and it sets the precedent that Big Brother knows what's best for all us stupid peons.

Good point Eric. And it should make a thinking person question the UN's agenda to disarm the world.

Waffler, I comment on the angle you take on most things as being more or less obscure and designed to suit your own anti-gun / anti-liberty / anti-American agenda. You sir, are a communist and everything you say proves that. Who's going to stop a 250 lb. drunk from taking a gun from a 90 lb. weakling? Why the 90 lb. weakling of course! That's what guns do, they make everyone the same size.I too lived in Arizona for many years. I felt safer and found it to be a more polite society than most places.

After the last two administrations...I'm way beyond skepticism.
They're all straight up liars period!

Anslinger was pefectly correct...he simply didn't understand what made him correct. Prohibition of Marijuana has created the environment in which gang warfare thrives. That's not what he meant...but it's still the truth. Legalize it, and the violence goes away....

Politicians come and go...but the bureaucracy remains entrenched. Which is why even a noble politician can affect no change. Too many bureaucrats "just doing their job". If a bureaucrat had one good idea...his head would explode.

George Mason stated an obvious truth. True then, True now, and has been true throughout history and will continue to be true for all eternity. As a friend of mine in the Canadian Armed Forces points out, Peace can only be achieved through superior fire power. And liberty can only be maintained by an armed populace. Until guns are uninvented and all armies disbanded, and all criminals disarmed...the people need to remain equally armed as a matter of self preservation.

Ken, Allyn, WA. Canadians have the right to self defense written into the British North America Act.
It's just not advertised in the legal world.

The quote is absolutely correct. Canadians are statistically as well or better armed than Americans...and No, no one is taking any guns from any Canadians. The registry is dead and there is no shortage of rifles or ammunition here. Semi-Automatic rifles aren't even considered restricted and there is no waiting time. You can buy a thousand rounds of whatever you like and no one will bat an eye. Hope that clears a few things up for folks in the US. As for being better off without ANY guns...I wonder if the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto felt that way? Or the 20 million Russians murdered...or the 2 million Cambodians...or the 6 million Armenians...and on and on...I love Canada...I love that it's still a pretty free country.

L.Hanson...thank you for that. Yes you're right, I generally have more to add than a simple statement of disgust.
Yes the quote is overly simple. It does not take into account that Communism can not actually support itself without innovation, which is lost in that ideology. Nor does it take into account that under capitalism...not "every" man will have as much. In fact few will. That's because only the most innovative and productive rise to the top of the heap. Much the same way that in nature, he strongest thrive and survive.
While that may seem to discount a sense of altruism in regard to those less fortunate, only those with means are truly able to help the down trodden. Which I do. The major division in philosophies is as to just "who" should control that sense of welfare? Me or my government? I choose me...I don't waste the funds. :)

Reminds me of that saying from Orwell's 1984..."Oceania is at war, Oceania has always been at war" There's a reason for that...Keep the sheeple poor and scared in order to control them.

This is an obvious truth and has been stated so many ways and by so many notable people, most of whom were themselves, dictators and murderers.

Wow Bob...maybe ease up on the pharmaceuticals will ya? I mean you made some points there...I think...sort of...but that kind of stress can give you a heart attack.

Mann...who said capitalism was meant to be humble?
It's meant to be innovative and aggressive...what are we, a bunch of Monks? And genocide by whatever name is ALWAYS committed by a totalitarian regime. Your point is...pointless.

In order to establish communism all of the dissidents, the educated and free thinking people must be removed (killed) lest the seeds of liberty and freedom rise again to put down the regime of the day. This is an almost impossible task without having control of the education system, the media and of course...disarming the public. Socialism is the first step towards this end and sadly, people are generally naive enough to believe that by subscribing to it, they are helping their fellow man. They are not. They are helping to engineer the subjugation of all men "equally". And in the end, Communism is merely Socialism at the end of a gun. 5 stars for an obvious truth.