..."it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of religion; freedom of property; and freedom of the press."

In Human Events, Brad Patty writes,

Politicians do not like to feel threatened, but the power of the people to overthrow them is philosophically legitimate and has historically been an important mechanism for both advancing liberty and ensuring stability.

As Thomas Jefferson wrote, the state and federal constitutions of his day held that:

…all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves, in all cases to which they think themselves competent, (as in electing their functionaries executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, both fact and law, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved) or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of religion; freedom of property; and freedom of the press.

...the lesson here is that the citizenry may not rightly be subjugated by other, lesser, officers of the state.

“The Right of the People” is the first right. All our efforts at security must prioritize the primacy of the citizen, and that means seeing the class of citizen as a high honor. It matters that citizens, and only citizens, serve certain functions. It matters that citizens be trained to believe in and support the American project. It matters who the citizens are, in other words, just as it matters who the President is.

Citizenship is fundamental to America and to the survival and flourishing of human liberty. But citizenship is duty as much as it is an entitlement—a duty that demands that Americans be at all times armed against the encroachment of tyranny.

Read more here.