Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as theyare in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in Americacannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body ofthe people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bandsof regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the UnitedStates. Noah Webster
In ‘An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution,’ 1787, in Paul Ford, ed., Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United States, at p. 56 ( New York, 1888 ).