Thomas Jefferson "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government".  "The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it".  "The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."    These quotes are past along by Richard Thomas.