As a kid I always wondered why Jefferson insisted that “the tree of liberty must be water with the blood of patriots and tyrants from time to time”... never sat well. Did he not believe that they founded an enduring democracy? Now I understand. Jefferson understood the insidious nature of corruption.

And perhaps the only reason that our republic has less open corruption or resisted it longer than the democracies of other countries is security afforded us by the 2A.