Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Thoughts of the Founding Fathers: "Gun Control" and "Freedom"
http://webpages.charter.net/bombsandbandaids/Accuracy/Founding%20Fathers%20Quotes.htm ^ | Unknown

Posted on 05/17/2005 10:53:26 AM PDT by StoneGiant

Topic #1.
WHAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS THOUGHT ABOUT "GUN CONTROL"

Benjamin Franklin: Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary
safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Nov 11 1755, from the Pennsylvania Assembly's reply to
the Governor of Pennsylvania.)

Thomas Jefferson: "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither
inclined or determined to commit crimes. Such laws only make things worse for the assaulted and
better for the assassins; they serve to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man
may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." (1764 Letter and speech from T.
Jefferson quoting with approval an essay by Cesare Beccari)

John Adams: "Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self
defense." (A defense of the Constitution of the US)

George Washington: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the
people's liberty teeth (and) keystone... the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable... more than
99% of them [guns] by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very
atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference [crime]. When firearms go, all goes,
we need them every hour." (Address to 1st session of Congress)

George Mason: "To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them." (3 Elliot,
Debates at 380)

Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in
almost every country in Europe." (1787, Pamphlets on the Constitution of the US)

George Washington: "A free people ought to be armed." (Jan 14 1790, Boston Independent
Chronicle.)

Thomas Jefferson: "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." (T. Jefferson papers,
334, C.J. Boyd, Ed. 1950)

James Madison: "Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of
other countries, whose people are afraid to trust them with arms." (Federalist Paper #46)



Topic #2:
WHAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS MEANT BY THE "MILITIA"

George Mason: "I ask you sir, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people." (Elliott,
Debates, 425-426)

Richard Henry Lee: "A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves...and
include all men capable of bearing arms." (Additional letters from the Federal Farmer, at 169, 1788)

James Madison: "A WELL REGULATED militia, composed of the people, trained to arms, is the
best and most natural defense of a free country." (1st Annals of Congress, at 434, June 8th 1789,
emphasis added.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Back in the 18th century, a "regular" army meant an army that had
standard military equipment. So a "well regulated" army was simply one that was "well equipped." It
does NOT refer to a professional army. The 17th century folks used the term "STANDING Army"
to describe a professional army. THEREFORE, "a well regulated militia" only means a well equipped
militia. It does not imply the modern meaning of "regulated," which means controlled or administered
by some superior entity. Federal control over the militia comes from other parts of the Constitution,
but not from the second amendment. (my personal opinion)

Patrick Henry: "The people have a right to keep and bear arms." (Elliott, Debates at 185)

Alexander Hamilton: "...that standing army can never be formidable (threatening) to the liberties
of the people, while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in the use of arms."
(Federalist Paper #29)

"Little more can be aimed at with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed
and equipped." (Id) {responding to the claim that the militia itself could threaten liberty}" There is
something so far-fetched, and so extravagant in the idea of danger of liberty from the militia that one
is at a loss whether to treat it with gravity or raillery (mockery). (Id)



TOPIC #3:
FOUNDING FATHERS INTENT BEHIND THE CONSTITUTION:

Samual Adams: "The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United
States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." (Convention of the Commonwealth
of Mass., 86-87, date still being sought)

Noah Webster: "Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority...the
Constitution was made to guard against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages
who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean
to be masters." (Source still being sought)

Thomas Jefferson: "On every occasion...[of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves
back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates,
and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it,
[instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed." (June 12 1823, Letter to
William Johnson)



Topic #4:
OTHER LEADERS THOUGHTS ON GUN CONTROL:

Sigmund Freud: "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity."
("General Introduction to Psychoanalysis," S. Freud)

Adolf Hitler: "This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun
registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead."
(Chancelor's Speech, 1935)

Mao Tse Tung: "All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must
command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party." (Problems of
War and Strategy, Nov 6 1938, published in "Selected Works of Mao Zedong," 1965)

Adolf Hitler: "The most foolish mistake we could make would be to allow the subject peoples to
possess arms. So let's not have any talk about native militias." (Hitler's Secret Conversations,
1941-44, Farrar, Strauss and Young, 1953)

Mahatma Gandhi: "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the
act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." ("Gandhi, an Autobiography," M.K. Gandhi,
446)

Charles Shumer: (US Congress, has sworn an oath to defend the US Constitution) "All we ask for
is registration, just like we do for cars." (Press conference, 1993, exact date being sought)

Diane Feinstein: "US Senator, If I could have banned them all- 'Mr. and Mrs. America turn in
your guns' -I would have!" (Statement on TV program 60 Minutes, Feb 5 1995)


Bill Clinton: (US President, has sworn an oath to defend the US Constitution, (not to violate it,
criticize it, and belittle it)) "When we got organized as a country, [and] wrote a fairly radical
Constitution, with a radical Bill of Rights, giving radical amounts of freedom to Americans, it was
assumed that Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly...When personal freedom is
being abused, you have to move to limit it." (April 19 1994, on MTV)


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: banglist; bogusquotes; cary; clinton; franklin; guncontrol; jefferson; mdm; notnews; schumer; washington

1 posted on 05/17/2005 10:53:31 AM PDT by StoneGiant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: StoneGiant
George Washington: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people's liberty teeth (and) keystone... the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable... more than 99% of them [guns] by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference [crime]. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour." (Address to 1st session of Congress)

Fraudulent.

2 posted on 05/17/2005 11:02:39 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: StoneGiant
Adolf Hitler: "This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead." (Chancelor's Speech, 1935)

Fabricated.

3 posted on 05/17/2005 11:05:32 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: StoneGiant

Euro weenies say their citzens cannot be trusted with owning guns, they might rise up and take back their long lost freedoms.


4 posted on 05/17/2005 11:07:51 AM PDT by Ursus arctos horribilis ("It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!" Emiliano Zapata 1879-1919)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: StoneGiant
John Adams: "Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense." (A defense of the Constitution of the US)

Misquoted.

5 posted on 05/17/2005 11:11:08 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: StoneGiant
Alexander Hamilton: "...that standing army can never be formidable (threatening) to the liberties of the people, while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in the use of arms." (Federalist Paper #29)

Outlawing select fire battle rifles is unconstitutional.

6 posted on 05/17/2005 11:12:12 AM PDT by MileHi
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Physicist

Are you going to revise these before I can send them out?


7 posted on 05/17/2005 11:13:22 AM PDT by stevio (Red-Blooded American Male)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Physicist

Since you seem to have a problem with the quotes, you might want to provide the correct information instead of just blasting away.


8 posted on 05/17/2005 11:20:07 AM PDT by Disambiguator (This tagline should only be taken under the advice of your doctor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: stevio
Are you going to revise these before I can send them out?

I wouldn't send out any of these quotes unless I first verified them myself. The three I pointed out were ones I'd seen debunked before. Google turned up several articles, but I think all of them are addressed on www.guncite.com.

9 posted on 05/17/2005 11:20:28 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Disambiguator
Since you seem to have a problem with the quotes, you might want to provide the correct information instead of just blasting away.

When a quote is fabricated, there isn't any correct information, beyond a warning not to propagate it.

Beyond that, Google is your friend.

As for blasting away, well, I think it is very counterproductive to support gun rights by propagating fraudulent quotes. If I can forestall some of that by blasting away, it's much better than remaining silent in lieu of an exhaustive rebuttal.

10 posted on 05/17/2005 11:28:04 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: raivyn

save


11 posted on 05/17/2005 11:38:11 AM PDT by raivyn (I love the smell of FUMING LIBERALS in the morning, but I hate the noise. (Don't you?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Physicist
May I suggest that --- next time --- you provide the following resource instead of flaming away:
http://www.guncite.com

 

I have not had an opportunity to validate their research, but they seem to agree with your opinion of the originally-provided quotes.

 

P.S.  If you are going to flame away, at least let me have time to don my flame-retardant underwear.

 


12 posted on 05/17/2005 11:57:28 AM PDT by StoneGiant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: StoneGiant
May I suggest that --- next time --- you provide the following resource instead of flaming away:

No flames from me; I was just giving a heads-up to the peanut gallery.

As for the guncite reference, I didn't know about it until after my first couple of posts. (Nice website, worth a bookmark.) If I'd had the time to do it right, I'd have dug up some old FR threads where their authenticity had been discussed. Had it not been for those FR threads, I wouldn't have recognized those particular quotes.

13 posted on 05/17/2005 12:21:01 PM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: StoneGiant

bttt, especially Jefferson's condemnation of the current "living, breathing constitution" sophists that claim him as the father of their party


14 posted on 05/17/2005 12:37:34 PM PDT by CGVet58 (God has granted us Liberty, and we owe Him Courage in return)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson