A well-armed citizenry acts as a major check on the ability of would-be tyrants, enabling the people to forcibly resist oppression.
The right to keep and bear arms is premised on self-defense. A well-armed citizenry secures a free state by protecting the nation and its individuals from three distinct threats: tyranny, foreign invasion, and domestic dangers such as crime and civil unrest.
“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”16 —Joseph Story, Supreme Court Justice and acclaimed author of Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States
Securing a Free State Against Tyranny
A well-armed citizenry acts as a major check on the ability of would-be tyrants, enabling the people to forcibly resist oppression. In the United States, our constitutional system is premised on the theory that, in a truly free society, ultimate power lies with the people and not with the government. But should the government forget this basic principle, the people maintain the practical power that comes with being armed for their own defense. The threat of tyranny and oppression is very real, even today. In the 20th century alone, it is estimated that governments with a monopoly on the instruments of force slaughtered over 200 million largely unarmed and defenseless people.17
