Here are some quotes by famous people on the subject of gun & weapon control:
"No free man shall be debarred the use of arms within his own land."
-Thomas Jefferson
“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it."
-Thomas Jefferson
"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials."
-George Mason
"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin
"They tell us...that we are weak--unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger?...Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Three million people, armed in the holy cause of liberty...are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us."
-Patrick Henry
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined."
-Patrick Henry
-James Earl Jones
-Lyle Myhur
-Thomas Jefferson
"The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them."
-Zachariah Johnson
"As long as there are guns, the individual that wants a gun for a crime is going to have one and going to get it. The only person who's going to be penalized and have difficulty is the law-abiding citizen, who then cannot have [it] if he wants protection-the protection of a weapon in his home, for home protection."
-Ronald Reagan
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself! They are the American people's Liberty Teeth and keystone under Independence. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies PROVE that to insure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. The very atmosphere of firearms EVERYWHERE restrains evil interference -- they deserve a place of HONOR with all that's good!"
-George Washington
"The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which has proven to be always possible."
-Hubert H. Humphrey
"Every good communist should know that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, the Communist Party must control the guns."
-Mao Tse Tung
“When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was Governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should do it not openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually." I ask, who are the Militia? They consist now of the WHOLE people, except a few public officers."
-George Mason
"Only an armed people can be the real bulwark of popular liberty."
-Vladimir I. Lenin
"A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie."
-Vladimir I. Lenin
"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity."
-Sigmund Freud
"Only a coward supports gun control, you know how to stop car jacking? Shoot the carjacker. If someone is going to kill me for my Buick, I'm gonna shoot until I'm out of ammo, and then I'll call 911."
-Ted Nugent
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."
-Japanese Admiral Yamamoto
"He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
-Jesus Christ
"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace."
-Jesus Christ
"The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed unless they try to take it."
-Thomas Jefferson
"Gun Bans don't disarm criminals, gun bans ATTRACT them."
-Walter Mondale
"Americans (have) the right and advantage of being armed, unlike citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
-James Madison
"The strongest reason for the PEOPLE to RETAIN the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against TYRANNY in Government!"
-Thomas Jefferson
"No FREE man shall EVER be barred the use of arms"
-Thomas Jefferson
"It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there is service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice speaks of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master."
-Ayn Rand
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws..........Create a nation of lawbreakers, and then you can cash in on the guilt."
-Ayn Rand
"We are fast approaching the stage in the ultimate inversion; the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only permission; which is the stage of the darkest period of human history; the stage of rule by brute force."
-Ayn Rand
"A Militia, when PROPERLY formed, are in fact the PEOPLE themselves, and include ALL men capable of bearing arms."
-Elbridge Gerry
"Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense."
-John Adams
"The PEOPLE have a RIGHT to keep and bear arms."
-Patrick Henry
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of it's arms as the blackest."
-Mahatma Ghandi
"If you carry a gun, people call you paranoid. That's ridiculous. If I have a gun, what in the hell do I have to be paranoid about?"
-Clint Smith, director, Thunder Ranch
"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 into the future."
-Adolph Hitler,
"An 'appeaser' is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."
-Winston Churchill
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
-George Santayana
"The most FOOLISH mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms; history shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected people to carry arms have prepared their own fall."
-Adolph Hitler,
"Germans who wish to use guns should join the S.S., or the S.A. (Army), ordinary citizens don't need guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the state."
-Heinrich Himmler
"The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were ALL the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside. Horrible mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them, the weak will become prey to the strong."
-Thomas Paine
"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them."
-Thomas Jefferson
To own firearms is to affirm that
freedom and liberty are not gifts from the state. It is to reserve final
judgment about whether the state is encroaching on freedom and liberty, to stand
ready to defend that freedom with more than mere words, and to stand outside the
state's totalitarian reach."
- Jeff Snyder
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who don't."
-Thomas Jefferson
"One man with a gun can control 100 men who have none."
-Anon.
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."
-Tacitu
"No greater wrong
can ever be done than to put a good man at the mercy of a bad, while telling him
not to defend himself or his fellows; in no way can the success
of evil be made surer or quicker."
-Theodore Roosevelt
"Self defense is
justly called the primary law of nature, so it is not, neither can it be in
fact, taken away by the laws of society."
-Sir William Blackstone
"If someone comes
to kill you, arise quickly and kill him."
- The Talmud (Code of Jewish Law)
"Laws that forbid
the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor
determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the
assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to
prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence
than
an armed man."
-Thomas Jefferson
"When the world is
at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side."
-Ho Yen-hsi
"Even in the best
and most peacefully civilized countries many occasions arise when a woman versed
in the knowledge and use of firearms may find that information and skill of
great importance."
-Annie Oakley
"The Constitution
of most of our states (and of the United States) asserts that all power is
inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is
their right and duty to be at all times armed."
- Thomas Jefferson
"Without either
the first or second amendment, we would have no liberty; the first allows us to
find out what's happening, the second allows us to do something about
it! The second will be taken away first, followed by the first and then the
rest of our freedoms."
-Andrew Ford
"The repeal of the
Second Amendment would no more render the outlawing of firearms legitimate than
the repeal of the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment would authorize the
government to imprison and kill people at will. A government that abrogates any
of the Bill of Rights, with or without majoritarian approval, forever acts
illegitimately, becomes tyrannical, and loses the moral right to govern."
-"A Nation of Cowards", by Jeffrey R. Snyder
"If circumstances
should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that
army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while
there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in
discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those
of their fellow citizens."
-Alexander Hamilton
"Government is not
reason, it is not eloquence, it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant
and a fearful master."
-George Washington
"When the
government fears the People, that is Liberty. When the People fear the
Government, that is tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson
"Firearms stand
next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's
liberty, teeth and keystone under independence. The church, the plow, the
prairie wagon and citizens' firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the
pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove
that, to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally
indispensable. Every corner of this land knows firearms, and more than 99 and
99/100 percent of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane
hands. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil
influence. They deserve a place of honor with all that's good. When firearms go,
all goes. We need them every hour."
-George Washington
Here are some quotes which are more on the humorous side:
An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
Colt: The original point and click interface.
Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
If guns cause crime, then spoons made Rosie O'Donnell FAT!
Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.
Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
The United States Constitution (c)1791. All Rights Reserved.
What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?
The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.
Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
Assault is a behavior, not a device.
Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.
If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.
Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don't make more.
When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.