Right to keep and bear arms

The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms or to have arms) is the people's right to have their own arms for their defense.

There can be no proper relation between one who is armed and one who is not. ~ Niccolo Machiavelli

Quotes

• The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state-controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy. Not for nothing was the revolver called an 'equalizer'. Egalite implies liberte. And always will. Let us hope our weapons are never needed — but do not forget what the common people of this nation knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny.
  • Edward Abbey, as quoted in Abbey's Road (1979).

• There can be no proper relation between one who is armed and one who is not.
  • Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Daniel Donno translation (1981), Bantam Books, pp. 54–64.

See also

• Second Amendment to the United States Constitution