Related:

• As the Founding Fathers knew well, a government that does not trust its honest, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens with the means of self-defense is not itself worthy of trust.
  Laws disarming honest citizens proclaim that the government is the master, not the servant, of the people....
• As the happiness of the people is the sole end of government, so the consent of the people is the only foundation of it.
  -- John Adam...
• That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
  -- Thomas Jefferso...
• No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people.
  The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave....
• Government: the ultimate con game.
• That government is best which governs least. -- Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience
• The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their possession any swords, short swords, bows, spears, firearms, or other types of arms.
  The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings....
• The conclusions seem inescapable that in certain circles a tendency has arisen to fear people who fear government.
  Government, as the Father of Our Country put it so well, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master....
• Government [is] an illusion the governed should not encourage. -- John Updike, Couple