U.S. Rep. Samuel S. Cox, "the right of the people to bear arms in their defense . . . It lifted up the decision of the United States supreme court as the aegis of personal liberty and a break-water against subverted government….”

U.S. Rep. Samuel S. Cox, “out of which grew your local liberty, security against unjust seizures, open and honest courts, frugal government, the right of the people to bear arms in their defense, and the subjection of the military to the civil power! . . . It was a renewed devotion, in the agony and peril of the time, to constitutional limitations, reserved rights and municipal rule. It lifted up the decision of the United States supreme court as the aegis of personal liberty and a break-water against subverted government….”, April 1, 1875