“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms…”
-Richard Henry Lee

“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them…”
Richard Henry Lee, 1788, Member of the First U.S. Senate

“A militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves… and include all men capable of bearing arms. . . To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms.”

-Richard Henry Lee