That a well-regulated militia,
composed of the body of
the people, trained to arms,
is the proper, natural, and
safe defense of a free state;
that standing armies, in time
of peace, should be avoided
as dangerous to liberty; and
that in all cases the military
should be under strict
subordination to, and
governed by, the civil power.
-George Mason; I ask, sir, what is the militia?
It is the whole people except
for a few public officials.
-George Mason
