Founding Fathers Second Amendment Quotes

• 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

  Men, Gun, Law

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  To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.

  George Mason

  Strength, Peace, Gun

  George Mason's address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 14, 1788.

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• Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.

  James Madison

  Country, Gun, Government

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• Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself.

  George Washington

  Gun, Fake, Second Amendment

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• 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.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Country, Freedom, Gun

  Letter toWilliam Stephens Smith, 13 Nov. 1787

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• No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to congress a power to disarm the people.

  William Rawle

  Gun, People, Giving

  William Rawle (1829). “A view of the Constitution of the United States of America”, p.125

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• To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms.

  Richard Henry Lee

  Gun, Strong Arms, People

  Richard Henry Lee (1978). “Letters from the Federal farmer to the Republican”, Univ of Alabama Pr

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  The Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.

  Samuel Adams

  Gun, Strong Arms, People

  Debates of the Massachusetts Convention, 1788.

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  The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Gun, Strong Arms, People

  Thomas Jefferson (1977). “The Portable Thomas Jefferson”, p.458, Penguin

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• Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Gun, Second Amendment, Mind Games

  "Jefferson: The face of the modern gun debate" by Christina Zdanowicz, www.cnn.com. July 19, 2013.

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• Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man gainst his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an Americans.

  Tench Coxe

  Men, Gun, Soldier

  76 Copy quote

• 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

  Army, Gun, Power

  Noah Webster (1787). “An Examination Into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution Proposed by the Late Convention Held at Philadelphia: With Answers to the Principal Objections that Have Been Raised Against the System”, p.43

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• The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjugated races to possess arms.

  Adolf Hitler

  Mistake, Gun, People

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• Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.

  Thomas Paine

  Motivation, Fear, Gun

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• Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Gun, Law, Strong Arms

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• The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to Congress a power to disarm the people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general pretense by a state legislature. But if in any blind pursuit of inordinate power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both.

  William Rawle

  Gun, Power, People

  "A view of the Constitution of the United States of America". Book by William Rawle, 1829.

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• When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British parliament was advised by an artful man [Sir William Keith], 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 not do it openly; but to weaken them and let them sink gradually, by totally disusing and neglecting the militia.

  George Mason

  Men, Gun, America

  George Mason's address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 14, 1788.

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• If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Government, Self, People

  Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison (2018). “America's Founding Documents: The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the United States Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the Bill of Rights”, p.199, First Avenue Editions

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• Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion... in private self-defense.

  John Adams

  Strength, Peace, Patriotic

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• Are we at last brought to such an humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?

  Patrick Henry

  Gun, Aggravation, Second Amendment

  "The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution: Volume 3". Book by Jonathan Elliot, 1836.

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• The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Gun, Rights, People

  "The Federalist Papers". Book by Alexander Hamilton, essay No. 69, 1787 - 1788.

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• No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Second Amendment, Use, Arms

  Thomas Jefferson (2010). “The Works of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence 1771 - 1779, the Summary View, and the Declaration of Independence”, p.180, Cosimo, Inc.

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• Militias, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves and include all men capable of bearing arms. [...] To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.

  Richard Henry Lee

  Gun, Men, Strong Arms

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• Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Inspirational, Gun, British Rule In India

  Mahatma Gandhi, General Press (2014). “My Experiments with Truth: An Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi”, p.681, GENERAL PRESS

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• They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Inspirational, Happiness, Peace

  Benjamin Franklin, William-Temple Franklin (1818). “Memoirs of the Life and Writings of (the Same), Continued to the Time of His Death by William Temple Franklin. - London, H. Colburn 1818”, p.270

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