"There are those in America today who have come to depend
absolutely on government for their security. And when
government fails they seek to rectify that failure in the form of
granting government more power. So, as government has failed
to control crime and violence with the means given it by the
Constitution, they seek to give it more power at the expense of
the Constitution. But in doing so, in their willingness to give up
their arms in the name of safety, they are really giving up their
protection from what has
always been the chief source of
despotism —
government.. Lord Acton said power corrupts.
Surely then, if this is true, the more power we give the
government the more corrupt it will become. And if we give it
the power to confiscate our arms we also give up the ultimate
means to combat that corrupt power. In doing so we can only
assure that we will eventually be totally subject to it. When
dictators come to power, the first thing they do is take away the
people's weapons. It makes it so much easier for the secret
police to operate, it makes it so much easier to force the will of
the ruler upon the ruled."

Ronald Reagan
Prophetic Words from the Gipper himself over 20 years ago
U.S. President Thomas Jefferson:

"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the
people fear the government, there is tyranny."