"He that suffers his life to be taken from him by one that hath no authority for that purpose, when he might preserve it by defense, incurs the Guilt of self murder since God hath enjoined him to seek the continuance of his life, and Nature itself teaches every creature to defend itself."

- From a 1747 sermon given in Philadelphia, as quoted by C. Asbury in The Right to Keep and Bear Arms in America: The Origins and Application of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, (an unpublished doctoral thesis in history, available at University of Michigan Graduate Library), pp. 39-40