"the right of the people thus to bear arms is the foundation of their liberties"

AMENDMENT II

   427. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

   The term militia is a Latin word, and signifies the being a soldier. In our country it is applied only to that
species of soldiery which is composed wholly of enrolled citizens, held ready for service, but not actually under arms. It is scarcely necessary to say, that the right of the people thus to bear arms is the foundation of their liberties; for, without it, they would be without any power of resistance against the existing government.

- Edward Deering Mansfield, THE POLITICAL GRAMMAR OF THE UNITED STATES; OR, A COMPLETE VIEW OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE GENERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS, WITH THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THEM. 1834.