Quotable Quotes!

Edward Abbey - (1927 - 1989) was an American author and essayist noted for his criticism of public land policies and advocacy of environmental issues. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental groups, and the non-fiction work Desert Solitaire.

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.

If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government — and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.

John Adams - (1735 – 1826) was the first (1789–1797) Vice President of the United States, and the second President of the United States. He was a major sponsor of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, and a key diplomat in the 1770s. He was a driving force for independence in 1776. As a statesman and author Adams helped define republicanism as the core American political value, meaning overthrow of monarchy and, especially, rule by the people, hatred of corruption, and devotion to civic duty. Regarded as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Resistance to sudden violence, for the preservation not only of my person, my limbs, and life, but of my property, is an indisputable right of nature which I have never surrendered to the public by the compact of society, and which perhaps, I could not surrender if I would.

Samuel Adams - (1722 – 1803) was an American Patriot and organizer of the Boston Tea Party. He played a major role in starting the American Revolution.

That the said Constitution shall never be 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...

Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at 86-87 (Pierce & Hale, eds., Boston, 1850).

“There's no question that weapons in the hands of the public have prevented acts of terror or stopped them.”
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

Susan Brownell Anthony

Women must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself."

Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote books on many subjects, including physics, poetry, zoology, logic, rhetoric, government, and biology. Aristotle, along with Plato and Socrates, is generally considered one of the most influential of ancient Greek philosophers. They transformed Presocratic Greek philosophy into the foundations of Western philosophy as we know it. The writings of Plato and Aristotle founded two of the most important schools of Ancient philosophy.

Those, who have the command of the arms in a country are masters of the state, and have it in their power to make what revolutions they please. [Thus,] there is no end to observations on the difference between the measures likely to be pursued by a minister backed by a standing army, and those of a court awed by the fear of an armed people.

As quoted by John Trenchard and Water Moyle, An Argument Shewing, That a Standing Army Is Inconsistent with a Free Government, and Absolutely Destructive to the Constitution of the English Monarchy [London, 1697].

Massad Ayoob - (b.  1948) is an internationally-known firearms and self-defense instructor. He is the Director of the Lethal Force Institute in Concord, New Hampshire, has taught police techniques and civilian self-defense in numerous venues since 1974, and has appeared as an expert witness in several trials. He has served as a police officer in New Hampshire since 1972 and currently holds the rank of Captain in the Grantham, New Hampshire police department.  He has authored several books and over 1,000 articles on firearms, combat techniques, self-defense, and legal issues, and has served in an editorial capacity for Guns Magazine, American Handgunner, Gun Week and Combat Handguns.

"Like all the... advances of mankind... the gun is an instrument, a tool that extends the will of its human owner. Used properly, it is benevolent; used incompetently or with evil intent, it becomes a terrible engine of destruction. The gun has no personality, no soul, no magic. Only a fool fears the gun itself; the wise [instead] fear evil people and foolish ones who use guns to do hurt. Only a fool believes merely having a gun will keep him safe; wise men know that the defense handgun is merely a tool for protection of the innocent, a tool that can turn on its owner as savagely as a loosely gripped chainsaw if handled by a person who does not know how to use it."

1986

"Like all the... advances of mankind... the gun is an instrument, a tool that extends the will of its human owner. Used properly, it is benevolent; used incompetently or with evil intent, it becomes a terrible engine of destruction. The gun has no personality, no soul, no magic. Only a fool fears the gun itself; the wise [instead] fear evil people and foolish ones who use guns to do hurt. Only a fool believes merely having a gun will keep him safe; wise men know that the defense handgun is merely a tool for protection of the innocent, a tool that can turn on its owner as savagely as a loosely gripped chainsaw if handled by a person who does not know how to use it."

1986

"Since concealed carry permits prevent the criminal from knowing who is armed and who is not, those who are not armed benefit from the general deterrent effect as criminals choose non-confrontational crime rather than risk being shot."

Dangerous Women: Feminism, Self Defense and Civil Rights - Robert L. Barrow and Dr. Gary Mauser
http://www.sfu.ca/~mauser/papers/women/Law-review-abstract.pdf

Facts: In mid-March of 1996 Thomas Hamilton, 43, warped, morally crippled, dead in his soul, certainly disgusting, the suicide-in-waiting who should have done us all a favour in the privacy of his own nightmare, went into the precincts of Dunblane (Scotland-Gene) primary, and into the gym class, with all his precious sex-toy handguns.

~~~

. . . it is easy to impose laws on the law-abiding. Criminals, by definition, don't take much interest in well-meaning legislation. If they chose to arm themselves while the rest of society was, in effect, disarming, outraged newspaper commentators and their quick fixes might merely make matters worse.

He killed 16 infants, then their teacher, then himself. He accomplished all this with four weapons, in three short minutes.

~~~

The most troubling questions came, instead, from those who answered my simplicities with one of their own. They didn't oppose a ban, as such. They merely wanted to know why I was so sure that legislation would work.

That seemed obvious. It even seemed faintly stupid to think otherwise. No guns, no gun-killings. Remove the threat: wasn't that one of the jobs of government?

~~~

I believed every word. America had, and has, too many of the instruments that Thomas Hamilton found so alluring. Yet almost 11 years on, what do I read, and what do I say?

[Today] I read of three London teenagers murdered in the space of 11 days. I read of firearms "incidents" spreading like an epidemic across our cities. I read of Tony Blair holding a Downing Street summit on a crisis that seems - call me naive - a greater threat to many communities than any terrorism.

What I say then becomes obvious: my idea didn't work. In fact, I begin to thread certain fears together, like links in a chain. Here's one: if even London teenagers can provide themselves with the means to kill 15-year-old Billy Cox in his bedroom, guns have become commonplace, so commonplace that every would-be terrorist worth his salt must be armed to the teeth. Bans have failed utterly.

~~~

Let's concede that all the bans have failed. That doesn't mean we should also fail to ask a practical question. Britain has become a security state in recent years. Nobody strolls unmolested through customs these days. There are terrorist suspects, so they say, at every turn. So why, precisely, are handguns still getting into this country?

Ian Bell, Sunday Herald, UK, http://www.sundayherald.com/oped/opinion/display.var.1217778.0.0.php

Emphasis added - Gene

Mr. Bell has experienced an epiphany at the expense of all the murders of dis-armed Brits since Dunblane ocurred.  Until Jesus returns, there is no answer to crime and mayhem other than overwhelming force.  That force, removed from the hands of those threatened, turns into disaster for society. - Gene

Pat Boone - (b:  1934) is a singer whose smooth style made him one of the most popular performers of the 1950s and 1960s. His cover versions of rhythm and blues hits had some impact on the development of the broad popularity of rock and roll. He is also an actor and television personality, and a conservative political figure.  He is a direct descendant of the legendary American pioneer Daniel Boone.

Do we really think the Marquis of Queensbury rules will prevail against a brawling, kneeing, sucker-punching , stool-swinging crazed animal? If you found yourself caught in the crossfire of a shootout in the street, would you rather have Perry Mason defending you – or Dirty Harry?

Don't bother; I know your answer. Mine, too.

Be careful out there, guys. A constitutionally-protected anti-rape device might come in handy, too. - Commenting on a news report concerning a serial rapist in East Harris County (Houston), Texas - Courtesy of the Lone Star Times, 12/18/2006

James Burgh (1714-1775) was an English Whig politician whose book Political Disquisitions set out an early case for free speech and universal suffrage:

"All lawful authority, legislative, and executive, originates from the people"

Burgh also wrote on subjects including educational reform.

No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He, who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him, whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; else he lives precariously, and at discretion.

Political Disquisitions: Or, an Enquiry into Public Errors, Defects, and Abuses [London, 1774-1775].

William Seward Burroughs II - (1914 - 1997), more commonly known as William S. Burroughs, was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer.

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it.

R.K. Campbell - An established and well-respected outdoors writer, Bob writes for Shotgun News, Handguns, SWAT Magazine, American Gunsmith, Knifeworld, Police,  Women and Guns, and GunWeek, among others. He is Contributing Editor of Women and Guns and Executive Editor of Boar Hunter. Bob has also published occasionally in Tactical Knives, American Handgunner and Guns, and he is a regular at Krause Publications' Gun Digest and Handguns. He also wrote a significant portion of the 4th and 5th Editions of Assault Weapons.

Alan Caruba - A public relations advisor, operating a PR firm called The Caruba Organization, but he is best known as a vocal critic of environmentalism and Islam. In 1990 he founded the National Anxiety Center, a self-described think tank dedicated to debunking what he alleges to be false claims made by environmental and consumer groups about global warming, ozone depletion, and other topics. He is an adjunct scholar at the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, and from 1994 to 2004 he was the Director of Communications for the American Policy Center. From 1984 to 2004 he ran the "Boring Institute," a media spoof that released annual lists of the year's most boring celebrities.
 

As gun law expert, John M. Synder, put it, "Gun rights are human rights. Gun rights equate with the right to defend life and, therefore, with the very right to life itself."

Why You Should Own a Gun, CNSNews.com Commentary from the National Anxiety Center, April 17, 2007.

Most reporters are very sympathetic to gun-control agendas and will skew or lie outright about facts to promote them.

USA TODAY

The Chicago Tribune - A major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois and owned by the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", it remains the principal daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan region and the Midwestern United States and one of the ten largest daily newspapers in the nation.

Allowing riflery training while decrying gun violence doesn't send a mixed message any more than does supporting a wrestling team while opposing schoolyard brawls.

John Chrysostom (347 - 407) was a notable Christian bishop and preacher from the 4th and 5th centuries in Syria and Constantinople. He is famous for eloquence in public speaking and his denunciation of abuse of authority in the Church and in the Roman Empire of the time. He had notable ascetic sensibilities.

"For men of understanding do not say that the sword is to blame for murder, nor wine for drunkenness, nor strength for outrage, nor courage for foolhardiness, but they lay the blame on those who make an improper use of the gifts which have been bestowed upon them by God, and punish them accordingly."

St. John Chrysostom, from "Treatise on the Priesthood," via B.T. Carlin, M.D.

Winston Churchill - (1874 – 1965) was an English politician and author, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. At various times a soldier, author and politician, Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in modern British and world history.

We shall fight them on the beaches,
We shall fight them on the shore,
We shall fight them in the fields and streams,
We shall fight them in the city;
We shall never surrender, never, never, never ...!

Never give in...never, never, never, never in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force, never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy!

Speech, 1941, Harrow School

Tom Clancy - Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (b:  1947), better known as Tom Clancy, is an author of bestselling political thrillers, best known for his technically-detailed espionage and military science story-lines during the Cold War. His name is also a brand for similar books written by other authors.

"Peasants with guns always make the aristocracy nervous," Granger agreed.

The Teeth of the Tiger

"There's no legitimate use for a gun like this."

Chicago Police Superintendent Philip Cline, brandishing a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at a news conference (Chicago Tribune, "Special unit hauling in guns, drugs" by Glenn Jeffers, January 29, 2004)

My 9mm (if I ever admitted to owning one! :>) ) has killed fewer people than Sen. Ted Kennedy's car! - Gene and 275+ million others!

"The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government. It is one of the 'High Powers' delegated directly to the citizen by the United States Constitution, Amendment II, and "is excepted out of the general powers of government". A law cannot be passed to infringe upon it or impair it, because it is above the law, and independent of the law-making power.

Texas Supreme Court Decision, Cockrum vs State of Texas, 1859

Joseph Conrad - (born Teodor Józef Konrad Korzeniowski, 1857 – 1924) was a Polish-born novelist. Some of his works have been labelled romantic: Conrad's supposed "romanticism" is heavily imbued with fierce irony and a fine sense of man's capacity for self-deception. Many critics regard Conrad as a forerunner of Modernist literature.

The last thing a woman will consent to discover in a man whom she loves, or on whom she simply depends, is want of courage.

Jeff Cooper - (1920-2006) is recognized as the father of what is commonly known as "The Modern Technique" of handgun shooting, and considered by many to be the world's foremost expert on the use and history of small arms. Born John Dean Cooper, but known to his friends as "Jeff", Cooper is a former Marine Lt. Colonel who served in World War II and in Southeast Asia during the Korean War. In addition to his expertise in firearms, he has been a history professor, philosopher, adventurer, and author. He is also known as "the Guru."

"Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud, and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons. The possession of a good rifle, as well as the skill to use it well, truly makes a man the monarch of all he surveys."

The Art of the Rifle

As we honor the forthcoming birthday of the father of our country we may well do to ponder upon his magisterial dictum: "Government, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." One of my degrees is in "political science," the other is in history. Certainly they bear this out.

Having a gun and thinking you are armed is like having a piano and thinking you are a musician."

It is clear at the moment from this political hoopla that we who believe in the Bill of Rights are in for another full-house battle in the forthcoming presidential election. It is sad to see how we who treasure liberty must struggle to preserve our domestic position while fighting off the international left with our other hand. Certainly it is a fight worth fighting, and may God defend the right!

Fight back! Whenever you are offered violence, fight back! The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you. Whatever the risk, and at whatever the cost, fight back!

An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.

Dr. Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, maintained that if a lie is repeated long enough it will eventually become accepted as the truth. This would pertain to the repeated reference to the "Constitutional separation of church and state." Nothing in the US Constitution establishes any such separation. The Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. That is certainly clear enough. The US Constitution is widely available in booklet form and should be carried around readily available for every occasion. It is an admirably simple and direct preparation. It is not obscure. It would be nice if more politicians would read it.

"Herodotus tells us that the Ancient Persians did not allow a young man of good birth to attend court or be noticed until he had learned to ride, shoot straight, AND SPEAK THE TRUTH. Of course the Ancient Persians knew nothing about modern democracy."

Emphasis in the original - Gene

Diligentia, vis, celeritus - DVC - Accuracy, power, speed

They're ain't many troubles that a man can't fix with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six

“The 1911 pistol remains the service pistol of choice in the eyes of those who understand the problem. Back when we audited the FBI academy in 1947, I was told that I ought not to use my pistol in their training program because it was not fair. Maybe the first thing one should demand of his sidearm is that it be unfair.”
— Guns & Ammo, January 2002

It is very difficult for a normal man to realize that he is suddenly in danger of death. The time it takes him to realize this and act upon it may be too long to save his life. Thus the prime quality of the gunfighter -- more important than either marksmanship or manual speed -- is the instant readiness to react to a threat.

"Hoplophobia is a mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to weapons, as opposed to justified apprehension about those who may wield them."  To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

"But if they break into your house while you're there and take you captive, it's something you never recover from. It's a tremendous hit on the relationship of couples," McGoey says. "I've talked to many, many women who blame their husbands for not protecting them. It's a really hard-hitting crime."

"Police in some areas see increase in home invasions"
USA TODAY
www.usatoday.com

Emphasis added - Gene

Ann Coulter - (b:  1961) is a conservative American syndicated columnist, bestselling author, attorney, and television pundit who frequently appears on national television and radio programs.

"The most dangerous action a woman can take when faced with a criminal is to resist with her fists: That tends to annoy violent criminals, and the woman will very likely be seriously injured. But a woman who takes the advice of Handgun Control Inc. and passively submits is 2.5 times more likely to be injured than a woman who resists with a gun. So if you don't want to lie back and enjoy it, get a gun. Otherwise you may never become a mom."

Tench Coxe (1755– 1824) was an American political economist and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1788. At one time, he was the assistant to Alexander Hamilton when Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury.

Tench Coxe was one of the 56 who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to sign the U. S. Constitution. - Gene

As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.

Remarks on the First Part of the Amendments to the Federal Constitution' under the Pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian" in the Philadelphia Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789 at 2 col. 1

Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.

Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.

Senator Larry Craig - Larry Edwin Craig (b:  1945) is the senior United States Senator from Idaho. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Every 13 seconds in America someone uses a gun to stop a crime.

The Dalai Lama - In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas form a lineage of leaders which trace back to 1391. Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama to be one of innumerable incarnations of Avalokitesvara (in Sanskrit the word literally means the "Lord who looks down")  who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas), the bodhisattva (a being who is dedicated to assisting all sentient beings in achieving complete Buddhahood) of compassion.  Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama was the head of the Tibetan government, controlling a large portion of the country from the capital Lhasa. The Dalai Lama is considered to be the highest lama of the Tibetan traditions.

"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." (May 15, 2001, The Seattle Times)

"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." (May 15, 2001, The Seattle Times)

. . . gun control originally was sold to Americans as a way to lower crime, but he disagreed. "People who sell this idea that bad guys are going to stop because of one more law are just full of it," he said.

Ted Deeds

The Law Enforcement Alliance of America
http://www.leaa.org/

World Net Daily 2/28/08

Who'da thunk? Guns best crime deterrent after all
'People who say bad guys will stop because of 1 more law are full of it'
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57641

". . . if you have the capacity to lawfully carry a firearm, and you haven’t been doing it for all of the usual reasons, rethink this. If it became known that covert sheepdogs were deployed among the flock, some predators might decide to stay home and wait for the next Simpsons episode to come on."

Tim Dees, Al-Qaeda vs. The Mouse, Editor-In-Chief, Officer.com

http://www.officer.com/interactive/2006/08/14/38/

Hugh Downs - (b:  1921) is a retired American television host, Veteran ABC newsman, producer, and author.

The NRA has a point about the inadvisability of simply taking guns away from the populace. If that were possible, it would not disarm that small percentage of the population willing to break the law.... Punishing people who obey the law is backward thinking.

To trust arms in the hands of the people at large has, in Europe, been believed...to be an experiment fraught only with danger. Here by a long trial it has been proved to be perfectly harmless...If the government be equitable; if it be reasonable in its exactions; if proper attention be paid to the education of children in knowledge and religion, few men will be disposed to use arms, unless for their amusement, and for the defence of themselves and their country.

Larry Elder - Laurence Allen "Larry" Elder (b:  1952) aka "the Sage from South Central" is an American libertarian-minded Republican radio and former TV talk show host and author.

A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American author, poet, and philosopher.

Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory.

Emphasis added by Gene

If one courageously confronts a formidable opponent and is ultimately overpowered it is unfortunate....It is far less understandable and certainly less forgivable when one losses a fight he should have won, simply because he carelessly allowed himself to be taken by surprise.

Jill Fieldstein - CBS producer

"As a card-carrying member of the liberal media, producing this piece was an eye opening experience. I have to admit that I saw guns as inherently evil, violence begets violence, and so on. I have learned, however, that in trained hands, just the presence of a gun can be a real "man stopper." I am sorry that women have had to resort to this, but wishing it wasn't so won't make it any safer out there.  Producer, Street Stories: Women and Guns 29 April 1993.
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum 

Jessica Flag, of the eighty thousand Million Moms, framed their argument so that we can understand it. "The best way to deal with a person with a gun," she said, "is to say, 'I know you're upset.' Compassion is the answer. They are human beings and want the same things I do. Try to be compassionate with them and relate to them."

Instead of bullets use words.

Jessica Flag

. . . And she "knows" this works because ? ? ? - Gene

Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave.

1698

Emphasis added - Gene

The FSRC (Force Science™ Research Center) - Launched in 2004 by Executive Director Bill Lewinski, PhD, a specialist in police psychology, to conduct unique lethal-force experiments. The non-profit FSRC, based at Minnesota State University-Mankato, uses sophisticated time-and-motion measurements to document—for the first time—critical hidden truths about the physical and mental dynamics of life-threatening events, particularly officer-involved shootings. Its startling findings profoundly impact on officer training and safety and on the public’s naïve perceptions.

Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. - (b:  1930), is a former Republican governor of Louisiana, having served from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a wealthy businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St. Mary Parish in the sugar-growing section of south Louisiana.

"Most people don’t ever want to use a gun to protect themselves — that’s the last thing they want to do — but if you know how and you have a situation with some fruitcake running around, like they’ve got right now, it sure can save you a lot of grief."
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

Sigmund Freud - (born Sigismund Schlomo Freud) 1856 – 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who co-founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind, especially involving the mechanism of repression; his redefinition of sexual desire as mobile and directed towards a wide variety of objects; and his therapeutic techniques, especially his understanding of transference in the therapeutic relationship and the presumed value of dreams as sources of insight into unconscious desires.[

Sigmund Freud: "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." ("General Introduction to Psychoanalysis,"
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

Mohandas K. Gandhi - (1869 – 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of India, and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer and perfector of the resistance of tyranny through mass civil disobedience strongly founded upon total non-violence, which led India to independence, and has inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known and addressed in India and across the world as Mahatma Gandhi and as Bapu (in many Indian languages, Father).

I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908 [by an Indian extremist opposed to Gandhi's agreement with Smuts], whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defend me, I told him it was his duty to defend me even by using violence. Hence it was that I took part in the Boer War, the so-called Zulu Rebellion and [World War I]. Hence also do I advocate training in arms for those who believe in the method of violence. I would rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honor than that she should in a cowardly manner become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonor.

Young India, August 11, 1920 from Fischer, Louis ed.,The Essential Gandhi, 1962

"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. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn." Mohandas K. Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Chapter XXVII, Recruiting Campaign, Page 403, Dover paperback edition, 1983.
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

I have been repeating over and over again that he who cannot protect himself or his nearest and dearest or their honor by non-violently facing death may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor. He who can do neither of the two is a burden. He has no business to be the head of a family. He must either hide himself, or must rest content to live for ever in helplessness and be prepared to crawl like a worm at the bidding of a bully.

Young India, 11-10-1928, p342

I now think the only way to control handgun use is to prohibit the guns. And the only way to do that is to change the Constitution.

M. Gartner, then President of NBC News, USA Today, January 16, 1992, pg. A9

If you own a duck gun or a deer rifle, and see nothing wrong with the "Assault Weapons Ban", I remind you that the Second Amendment is of sober and serious purpose that is not about your trivial right to entertain yourself with sports shooting.

When they come for your duck gun, my battle rifle and I won't be there to help you, because at that point, I either won't have a battle rifle, or it's shards will have been buried with me.

And if that came to pass because you were sitting on your ass, you won't deserve any help either.

The second amendment is about fostering a formidably armed citizenry for the serious purposes of the defense of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We get the relatively trivial sports of hunting and target shooting as a byproduct of this, not as a main effect.

Edward Gibbon - (1737 - 1794) was arguably the most influential historian in English language. His magnum opus, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a groundbreaking work whose influence endures to this day.

A martial nobility and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and collected into constitutional assemblies form the only balance capable of preserving a free constitution against the enterprise of an aspiring prince.

Tom Givens - Self Defence trainer and writer
http://www.rangemaster.com/

You need to accept, internalize, and come to grips with the fact that no place is immune to violence. Sudden, senseless violence can erupt anywhere there are people, at any time. Discretely carry your gear. Be alert. When violence occurs, don’t stand there wishing someone would come save you.

Bernhard Goetz - Bernhard / Bernie / Bernard Hugo Goetz (b: 1947) was dubbed by the New York press as the "Subway Vigilante." He became a symbol of New Yorkers' frustrations with high crime after he shot (defended himself?) four young men on the Seventh Avenue #2 express subway train in Manhattan in 1984.  Some viewed the soft-spoken Goetz as a hero for standing up to his attackers and defending himself in an environment where the police were increasingly viewed as ineffective in combating crime. Others viewed Goetz's action as a violent and criminal overreaction to the events.  Goetz did serve eight months on a one-year sentence for illegal weapons possession.

"Don't bring a screwdriver to a gun fight."

Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano - (born 1945) is a former mobster and underboss of the Gambino crime family in the 1980s under John Gotti.

Gun control? It's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I'm a bad guy, I'm always gonna have a gun. Safety locks? You will pull the trigger with a lock on, and I'll pull the trigger. We'll see who wins. — Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, whose testimony convicted John Gotti.

David Grossman:  The author of several book including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.”

But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself…"Baa."

"On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs"

"If they are not going to permit their citizens (students and faculty) to carry lifesaving tools (firearms), then they must provide those lifesaving tools, in the hands of trained professionals. This is a moral, legal obligation."

Virginia Tech Tragedy Report Misses Point
June 20, 2007
NewsMax.com

Theodore Haas - Former prisoner of the infamous Dachau prisoner concentration

There is no doubt in my mind that millions of lives could have been saved if the people had not been "brainwashed" about gun ownership and they had been well armed. Hitler's thugs and goons were not very brave when confronted by a gun. Gun haters always want to forget the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, which is a perfect example of how a ragtag, half starved group of Jews took up 10 handguns and made asses out of the Nazi's.

"One of the arguments that had been made against gun control was that an armed citizenry was the final bulwark against tyranny. My response had been that untrained, lightly-armed non-soldiers couldn't prevail against a modern army. I had concluded that the qualitative difference in firepower was such that all of the previous rules of guerilla war no longer applied. Both Vietnam and Afghanistan demonstrated that wasn't true. Repelling an armed invasion is not something that American citizens are likely to face, but the possibility of a despotic government coming to power is not wholly unthinkable. One of the sequellae of Vietnam was the rise of the Khmer Rouge and slaughter of perhaps a million Cambodian citizens. Those citizens, like the Jews in Germany or the Armenians in Turkey, were unarmed and thus utterly and completely defenseless against police and paramilitary. An armed minority was able to kill and terrorize unarmed victims with total impunity." –  "Why I Carry"
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

Alexander Hamilton - (1755 or 1757 – 1804) was an American politician, statesman, financier, intellectual, and founder of the Federalist Party. One of America's leading constitutional lawyers, he was an influential delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention and one of the two principal authors of the Federalist Papers, which expounded the U.S. Constitution to skeptical New Yorkers, and remains a standard source on the meaning of the document.

...but 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 use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights...

Speaking of standing armies in Federalist No. 29.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch - Orrin Grant Hatch (b:  1934) is a Republican United States Senator from Utah, serving since 1977.

If gun laws in fact worked, the sponsors of this type of legislation should have no difficulty drawing upon long lists of examples of crime rates reduced by such legislation. That they cannot do so after a century and a half of trying--that they must sweep under the rug the southern attempts at gun control in the 1870-1910 period, the northeastern attempts in the 1920-1939 period, the attempts at both Federal and State levels in 1965-1976--establishes the repeated, complete and inevitable failure of gun laws to control serious crime." Senator Orrin Hatch, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, 97th Cong., 2d Sess., The Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Committee Print I-IX, 1-23 (1982).
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

"In my studies as an attorney and as a United States Senator, I have constantly been amazed by the indifference or even hostility shown the Second Amendment by courts, legislatures, and commentators. James Madison would be startled to hear that his recognition of a right to keep and bear arms, which passed the House by a voice vote without objection and hardly a debate, has since been construed in but a single, and most ambiguous Supreme Court decision, whereas his proposals for freedom of religion, which he made reluctantly out of fear that they would be rejected or narrowed beyond use, and those for freedom of assembly, which passed only after a lengthy and bitter debate, are the subject of scores of detailed and favorable decisions. Thomas Jefferson, who kept a veritable armory of pistols, rifles and shotguns at Monticello, and advised his nephew to forsake other sports in favor of hunting, would be astounded to hear supposed civil libertarians claim firearm ownership should be restricted. Samuel Adams, a handgun owner who pressed for an amendment stating that the "Constitution shall never be construed . . . to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms," would be shocked to hear that his native state today imposes a year's sentence, without probation or parole, for carrying a firearm without a police permit."
Hat Tip:  linman writing at Texas CHL Forum

Robert Heinlein - (1907 – 1988) was one of the most influential and controversial authors of "hard" science fiction. He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility that few have equaled, but also helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality.

Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.

Is there anything wrong with a woman preferring the dignity of an armed citizen? I don't like to be coddled and I don't like to be treated like a minor child. So I waive immunity and claim my right -- I go armed.

Longcourt Phyllis in Beyond This Horizon

Patrick Henry (1736 – 1799) was a prominent figure in the American Revolution, known and remembered primarily for his stirring oratory. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he was one of the most influential (and radical) advocates of the American Revolution.

We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists.

3 J. Elliot, Debates in the Several

State Conventions 45, 2d ed. Philadelphia, 1836

Out of every 100 men, ten shouldn't even be there, Eighty are just targets, Nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.

Circa 500 BC

Charlton Heston - (b:  1923) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor noted for heroic roles and his long involvement in political issues.  Former president of the National Rifle Assocation.

As I have stood in the crosshairs of those who target Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized that firearms are not the only issue. No, it's much, much bigger than that. I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated.

The Warrior's Creed

Wherever I go, everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.

Wherever I am, anyone in need has a friend.

Whenever I return home, everyone is happy I am there.

'It's a better life!'

Suzanna Gratia Hupp  (born 1959) is an outgoing Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, who represented traditionally Democratic District 54 (Bell, Burnet, and Lampasas counties) for ten years from 1997-2007. Hupp is recognized worldwide as a leading advocate for the Second Amendment and an individual's right to carry a concealed weapon.

On October 16, 1991 in Killeen, Texas a man named George Hennard drove his truck into a Luby's Restaurant, and then opened fire on the restaurant's patrons and staff. He killed 23 people and wounded 20 before he killed himself. As a direct result of this massacre, in 1995 Texas lawmakers, led by Suzanna Gratia Hupp