Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed...

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.

--Noah Webster, An Examination into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, 1787 http://fq1.us/a1