"When a liberal sees a firearm they see a fearful weapon that they wish only to be in the hands of government, naively ignoring the obvious facts that:

1) Criminals are never going to follow their fond wishes, 

2) Officers of government are most often not going to be there for them in a crisis,

3) We the People are the government in America, the sovereign, and the sovereign must possess the physical means to protect their people and their country from all enemies, foreign or domestic.

When a conservative sees a firearm he sees a primary implement of liberty, one that can be misused by evil men, of course, but that is, nonetheless, an indispensable tool, because this is a fallen world which contains many evil men, men who will only be restrained by the will and force of good men who are armed."

-- Tom Hoefling, December 15, 2012
 
 
 
 
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

-- Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishment, quoted by Thomas Jefferson in Commonplace Book