Abby Spangler and Protest Easy
Guns are LYING to You
Protest
Easy Guns (ProtestEasyGuns.com)
states, “We are not against hunters, guns for private protection, or
collectors' guns -- WE ARE AGAINST CRIMINALS AND DANGEROUS INDIVIDUALS having
easy access to guns! We are against PEOPLE HUNTERS!”
Keeping
guns out of the hands of criminals is certainly a noble goal; however, absent
any realistic plan for accomplishing that goal, PEG has chosen to focus its
efforts on pushing for baseless, feel-good legislation, such as arbitrarily
banning certain firearms. For an organization that claims to have no objection
to gun ownership by law abiding citizens, PEG is going to great lengths to
severely restrict gun ownership by law abiding citizens. And as this page
clearly shows, they’re not above twisting the facts or even making up facts, in
pursuit of those tighter restrictions.
Misrepresentation # 1 - The “Mental Health Loophole” Protest
Easy Guns claims that the ability of the Virginia Tech killer to pass the
instant background checks required to purchase the guns used in the Virginia
Tech massacre, two years after he was adjudicated mentally ill, proves that we
need tighter gun control laws. However, Protest Easy Guns fails to mention that
the governor of Virginia has already closed the "mental health
loophole" that allowed the VT killer to slip through the system. Protest Easy Guns also fails to mention that, on January 9, 2008, the President of the United States signed into law a bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening the instant background check system to prevent individuals like the Virginia Tech killer from slipping through the cracks. Misrepresentation # 2 - 30,000 Annual Gun Deaths Lie # 1 - It took the VT killer only three minutes to buy the guns
used in the massacre. It
took the Virginia Tech killer over thirty days to buy the two guns he used in
the massacre. ProtestEasyGuns.com
fails to state what they believe would be an appropriate amount of time for
conducting a background check. They also fail to state why they seem to think
speed (or lack thereof) is more important than effectiveness. Is a background
check that takes three hours somehow superior to an equally effective
background check that takes three minutes? Lie # 2 - “Assault
weapons” are a major problem in the United States, and the sunset of the 1994 “assault
weapons” ban contributed to the Virginia Tech massacre. In the year immediately following the sunset of the 1994 “assault
weapons” ban, murders declined 3.6%, and violent crime declined 1.7%. (FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 2004) According to the Miami
Herald (January 14, 2008), in 2007 only one U.S. police officer (1.4% of all U.S. police officers fatally shot in the line of duty in 2007) was fatally shot with an “assault weapon." According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 133 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2008, a 27 percent decrease from year before and the lowest annual total since 1960. THE VIDEO: "An assault weapon is a gun that was
designed to be spray fired from the hip." If “assault
weapons” were designed to be spray fired from the hip, why does the woman in
the video conclude by arguing that “assault weapons” should be banned because
the D.C. snipers “used an assault weapon?” Like most
anti-gun organizations, Protest Easy Guns alternates, whenever it suits their
agenda, between the two contradictory arguments that “assault weapons” were
designed to be spray fired from the hip and that “assault weapons” are deadly
sniper rifles. In reality, “assault weapons” were designed neither to be spray
fired from the hip nor to serve as sniper rifles. THE VIDEO: "They were created to be used
in trench warfare." THE TRUTH: This is a reference to early
submachine guns, like the German MP-18 and MP-38, the Finish Suomi, and the
American Thompson--guns that have been restricted from civilian purchase
since June 26, 1934. These guns are all fully-automatic weapons,
meaning the shooter squeezes the trigger once, and they continue to fire one
bullet after another until the trigger is released. The current
debate over "assault weapons" does not apply to fully-automatic
weapons (machine guns) because fully-automatic weapons have been
restricted since the passage of the 1934 National Firearms Act. All
civilian "assault weapons" are semiautomatic, meaning they fire only
one bullet each time the trigger is pulled. Gun control advocates
often try to alarm uninformed members of the public by referring to
"assault weapons" as "military style weapons;" however, the
vast majority of the weapons covered by the 1994 "assault weapons"
ban and the proposed "Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection
Act of 2007" (HR 1022) are not utilized by any military anywhere in the
world, because they fire in semiautomatic mode only. Protest Easy Guns argues
that gun trace data should be made public. CLICK
HERE a very logical explanation (from the NRA) of why that data is not made
public by the federal government. Acting as an unlicensed
firearms dealer is illegal, EVEN AT GUN SHOWS.
Only gun sales by private individuals can be conducted without
performing a federal background check.
Individuals may sell their privately owned firearms at gun shows,
through classified ads, between friends, etc., without performing background
checks. Any law requiring that firearms transfers between private individuals be subject to
federal background checks would create de facto gun registration, by
creating government records of the whereabouts of all legally purchased firearms. Because gun registration lists have been used as "shopping lists" for gun confiscations in Canada, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, California, and New York City (among other places), gun rights advocates vehemently oppose any form of gun registration. The 40% figure quoted by
Protest Easy Guns refers primarily to vendors at gun shows selling items other
than firearms (books, camping supplies, homemade preserves, etc). According to a 2006 Department
of Justice study, no police officers were killed by firearms purchased at gun
shows, during the course of the five-year study. (U.S. Department of Justice, "Violent
Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation's Law Enforcement
Officers." August 2006) According to a 1998 Center
to Prevent Handgun Violence survey of thirty-seven police departments in large
cities, only 5% of metropolitan police departments believe that gun shows are a
problem. (Center to Prevent Handgun Violence survey of 37 police
departments in large cities, reported in a CPHV report titled “On the Front
Line: Making Gun Interdiction Work,” February 1998) According to 2001 Department
of Justice statistics, only 0.7% of convicts bought their firearms at gun shows, and less than 1%
of “crime guns” were obtained at gun shows. A study by the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, released October 1, 2008, declares, "We find no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial
increases in either gun homicides or suicides. In addition, tighter regulation of gun shows does
not appear to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths." Lie # 4 - Strict
gun control laws make other nations much safer than the United States of
America. Gun control advocates tend
to focus on the NUMBER of GUN crimes in countries with strict gun control,
rather than focusing on the RATE of VIOLENT crimes in those countries, for two
very simple reasons. First, focusing on crime numbers, rather than crime rates,
allows gun control advocates to give the appearance that there is a much
greater disparity than there actually is between the level of violent crime in
America and the levels of violent crime in much smaller nations, such as
England. Also, focusing on the low numbers of gun deaths in countries with
strict gun control allows gun control advocates to avoid mentioning that many
of these countries, such as England, have actually seen an increase in their
overall homicide rates, since the implementation of strict gun control laws.
And most of the countries, like Australia, that have seen a decrease in their
homicide rates, since the implementation of strict gun control laws, have not
seen as sharp a decrease during that time period as the United States of
America, where gun control laws have remained virtually unchanged. SUMMATION Most proposed gun control laws are based on emotion, not
fact. No nation has significantly decreased its homicide rate or violent crime
rate by implementing strict gun control laws. Many countries, such as England,
have seen an increase in violent crimes and homicides since implementing strict
gun control laws. In most nations that have implemented strict gun controls
(i.e., gun registration), those strict controls have eventually been used to enforce
partial or total gun bans--confiscating legally purchased firearms from
law-abiding citizens.
ProtestEasyGuns.com states that each year 30,000 people in America die from
gunshot wounds. However, ProtestEasyGuns.com does not bother to break down that
number.
Protest Easy Guns derives that number from the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
statistics for the year 2004 (the most recent year for which data is available),
in which the CDC recorded 29,569 gun related deaths in the United States. PEG
fails to mention that 16,750 (approximately 57%) of those gun related deaths
were suicides*, that only 11,624 (about 39%) were homicides, and that only
649** (about 2%) were accidental shootings.
All of this information can be independently verified here: http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html
*The suicide rate in Japan is more than twice that of the USA; yet, Japan has
an almost complete prohibition against civilian ownership of firearms.
**Only 105 of the individuals killed in gun accidents were under the age of 18.
By contrast, 1,001 children died by accidental suffocation, 929 children died
in drowning accidents, and 291 children died from accidental poisoning.
ProtestEasyGuns.com claims the Virginia Tech killer was able to purchase his
firearms in only three minutes.
That "three minutes" timeframe has nothing to do with the actual
amount of time it took the VT killer to purchase the two guns used in the
massacre. It takes at least that long to fill out the paperwork required to
purchase a firearm.
The reason ProtestEasyGuns.com claims the VT killer was able to buy his guns in
only three minutes is that three minutes is the approximate amount of time it
takes to perform an instant background check on a person attempting to purchase
a firearm, after that person has already found the gun he or she wants to buy
and filled out the required paperwork.
In accordance with state law, the VT killer had to wait thirty days between gun
purchases and undergo a separate background check for each purchase.
ProtestEasyGuns.com states:
"The Assault Weapons Ban was allowed to expire by the President and Congress
in 2004. Consequently, high-powered guns like semiautomatic AK-47s and Uzis are
back on our streets and high-capacity bullet magazines (larger than 10 rounds)
are available once again. It was the availability of such magazines that
allowed the VA Tech shooter the means to murder so many people so quickly. He
used 15-round magazines which became legal when the original Assault Weapons
Ban expired in September 2004."
ProtestEasyGuns.com fails to state:
According to a 1997 compilation of statistics from the years 1980-1994, from 48
metropolitan police departments, "assault weapons" were used,
nationwide, in only 1.4% of crimes involving firearms and only 0.25% of all
violent crime, BEFORE the enactment of any state or national "assault
weapons" ban. (Gary Kleck, “Targeting Guns,” 1997)
A 1994 study by the FBI found that only 1% of police officers murdered were
killed with "assault weapons." That same study found that police
officers were twice as likely to be shot with their own handguns as with an
"assault weapon." (“Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted,” FBI, 1994)
According to FBI
Statistics, in 1994, before the federal “assault weapons” ban, you were eleven
times more likely to be beaten to death than to be killed by an “assault
weapon.” (FBI
Uniform Crime Statistics, 1994)
A study released by the Department of Justice in 2006 (two years after the
expiration of the 1994 "Assault Weapons" ban) found no instances of
police officers being killed with "assault weapons" during the course of the five-year study. (U.S. Department of Justice, "Violent
Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation's Law Enforcement
Officers," August 2006)
Most of these "high-powered" guns labeled as "assault
weapons" actually fire significantly smaller, less powerful rounds
(bullets) than most hunting rifles.
Most of these "assault weapons" have a significantly shorter
effective range than most hunting rifles. The sniper rifles used by the United
States military have much more in common with traditional hunting rifles than
with these so-called "assault weapons." In fact, the M-24 sniper
rifle, used by the United States Army and most police forces, and the M-40
sniper rifle, used by the United States Marine Corps, are both variations on
the Remington 700 hunting rifle. Neither of these true sniper rifles qualifies
as an "assault weapon," under the definition provided by the 1994
"assault weapons" ban.
The rate of fire (bullets per second) for a semiautomatic "assault
weapon" is no different than the rate of fire for a semiautomatic hunting
rifle. Both fire one bullet each time the shooter pulls the trigger.
In 1988 S.C. Helsley, Assistant Director of the Investigation and Enforcement
branch of the Department of Justice, stated, "I surveyed the firearms used
in violent crimes...assault-type firearms were the least of our worries."
The killer at Virginia Tech took approximately nine minutes to shoot 60
people--killing 30--in Norris Hall. Firing fifteen rounds from two 10-round
magazines takes only about two seconds longer than firing fifteen rounds from a
15-round magazine.
Under the 1994 "assault weapons" ban, high-capacity magazines were
still readily available at gun shows and gun stores because the ban only
applied to new production; not to magazines already produced.
The Virginia Tech Review Panel, comprised of state appointed officials,
concluded that the higher capacity magazines used by the killer had little to
do with the high death toll. Their official report stated, "10-round
magazines that [used to be] legal would have not made much difference in the
incident. Even [revolvers] with rapid loaders could have been about as deadly
in this situation"
For more information on the FACTS about "assault weapons" and gun
laws, please view the information at www.gunfacts.info,
and watch these videos:
Even highly respected members of the media get it wrong sometimes:
CLICK HERE to read a Washington Times
article about a very misleading news piece aired by CNN.
CLICK HERE to read a transcript of that misleading CNN news
piece.
CLICK
HERE to read about the numerous inaccuracies and deliberate
misrepresentations in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine.A PEG Video Riddled with LIES and
MISREPRESENTATIONS
THE TRUTH: "Assault weapon" is not a
technical or military term; it is a political term used to describe firearms
that resemble military firearms, in appearance but not function. True military
firearms can be fired in fully-automatic mode, meaning they continue to fire
one bullet after another, as long as the shooter holds down the trigger.
"Assault weapons" are all semiautomatic, meaning they only fire one
bullet each time the trigger is pulled. The weapons described as "assault
weapons," such as the AR-15, AK-47, etc., are all designed to be aim fired
from a traditional shooting position, not spray fired from the hip. Nothing
about an "assault weapon" makes it more suitable than any other semiautomatic
weapon for spray firing from the hip.
THE VIDEO: "The danger with assault weapons is
that bullets fired from assault weapons can go through doors; they generally
can pierce many of the bulletproof vests law enforcement wears."
THE TRUTH: In reality, bullets fired from most
"assault weapons" have less penetrating power than the bullets fired
from most hunting rifles. Almost any hunting rifle can shoot through a
bulletproof vest. The soft body armor worn by police officers is designed to
stop bullets fired from handguns, not rifles.
THE VIDEO: "In fact, we know from some data
that one in five law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty is killed
with an assault weapon."
THE TRUTH: The highly biased study on which this
statement is based included many weapons not included in the 1994 "assault
weapons" ban. A 1994 FBI study found that only 1% of officers killed in
the line of duty are killed with "assault weapons." That same FBI study
found that an officer is more than twice as likely to be killed by his or her
own service pistol than by an "assault weapon." A study done by the Department of Justice in 2006 found no instances of police officers being killed with "assault weapons"
during the course of the five-year study. According to the Miami
Herald, only 1.4% of
police officers fatally shot in the line of duty in 2007 were shot with “assault
weapons.”
THE VIDEO: "The [1994 assault weapons ban] was
riddled with loopholes...[Gun manufacturers] ended up creating copycat weapons
that were not within the spirit of the law but complied with the letter of the
law."
THE TRUTH: Gun manufacturers were told they could no
longer manufacture weapons with certain cosmetic features, so they started
manufacturing weapons without those cosmetic features. That's not a loophole;
that's compliance with the law.
THE VIDEO: "The reason that [assault weapons]
pose a particular danger is the velocity and the way that they fire--the fact
that they're designed to spray fire--and the fact that they are an attractive
weapon to those bent on mass murder, such as the Columbine shooters and the
Washington D.C. snipers who used an assault weapon."
THE TRUTH: Again, the velocity of bullets fired from
most "assault weapons" are considerably lower than the velocity of
bullets fired from most hunting rifles. "Assault weapons" are no more
suitable for spray firing than any other semiautomatic firearm. Only one of the
four firearms used by the two killers in the Columbine High School massacre was
classified as an "assault weapon" by the 1994 ban. The D.C. snipers
would have most likely done more damage if they'd followed the military's lead
and done their sniping with a .308 hunting rifle, which is more accurate and
more powerful than the XM-15 used in the D.C. shootings. (Note:
The XM-15 was actually designed to comply with the 1994 “assault weapons”
ban.)
When quoting gun crime statistics from other countries, gun control advocates
like to point to nations that have very different governments and judicial
systems and that lack the gun culture and open borders of the United States.
It's easy to point to the low crime rates in Japan or England, two small island
nations with easily controllable borders, no significant gun culture (in part
because they lack the frontier past of the United States and because they offer
very little big game hunting), and judicial systems which afford citizens fewer
rights than in the U.S. The British and Japanese definitions of "due
process" are very different from the one Americans know. And the British
and Japanese systems of government are more totalitarian than the U.S. system.
Residents of Japan and England are treated more like subjects than citizens.
Actions such as government censorship and warrantless searches, which would
never be tolerated in the U.S., are deemed acceptable, under certain
circumstances, by the people and governments of Japan and England and, to a lesser degree, Canada.
England never had significant gun crime, even before the implementation of gun
control. Gun control was first implemented in Great Britain not because of any
great need to curb gun violence but because, in the early 1920s, the British
government feared the possibility of a working class uprising, similar to the
Bolshevik Revolution that had just occurred in Russia. Gun controls were
strengthened in the mid-1960s, as a way of appeasing public outcry for a
reinstatement of the death penalty, following an incident in which three police
officers were murdered with illegal revolvers. Because the revolvers used to
murder the officers were already heavily regulated, the British government
chose to respond to this crime by implementing shotgun control (despite the
fact that recent studies had indicated that gun crime in Great Britain was
under control and that shotgun controls would have no practical effect). The
current gun control laws now enforced in England--virtually banning civilian
ownership of firearms--were implemented in the late 1980s, following a mass
murder in which a licensed gun owner killed eighteen people with a handgun and
a semiautomatic Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifle. Because England lacks the strong gun
culture of the United States, a strong media outcry for stringent gun control
was met with little resistance. Though this massacre was the first and only
time a centerfire, semiautomatic rifle was used to commit a murder in England,
it led to the confiscation of every centerfire, semiautomatic rifle in the
nation. The only protest from what passes for a gun lobby in Great Britain was
an insistence that the government pay the owners of confiscated guns a small
fee (a fraction of the actual value of most of the guns) for each firearm
confiscated.
In the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, the homicide rate in England was 1/10th
the homicide rate in the United States. In 1987 English citizens were shocked
by a mass shooting at a public market. In 1989 American citizens were shocked
by a mass shooting at a fast food restaurant. England responded by implementing
the strict gun control laws currently in place. Americans chose not to
implement stricter gun control. By the early ‘90s, the homicide rate in England
was 1/8th the homicide rate in America. Today the homicide rate in England is
1/4th the homicide rate in America. Since the implementation of England’s
strict gun control laws, England’s homicide rate has gone up; whereas, America’s
homicide rate has gone down.
In 1989 the Canadian
Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice published a report showing
that the Canadian homicide rate remained, for the most part, stable in the
decade following the passage of the 1977 law requiring citizens to receive a
Firearms Acquisition Certificate from police before purchasing a firearm.
If you compare 1976 homicide statistics to 2006 homicide statistics, both the
U.S. and Canadian homicide rates have declined by 33%. Strictly based on those
numbers, there is no evidence that the Canadian gun controls implemented in
1977 have accomplished anything.
Gun control advocates never mention countries like Mexico and Russia, in which
gun control laws are VERY strict and murder rates are three to four times
higher than in the United States. In truth, you can no more compare the United
States to England, where virtually nobody has a gun and the violent crime rate
is very low, than you can compare the United States to Switzerland, where
virtually everybody has a gun and the violent crime rate is very low.
For more information read The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt
the Gun Controls of Other Democracies, by David B. Kopel. The introduction
can be read HERE.
You should also read "Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide? A Review of International Evidence," by Don B. Kates* and Gary Mauser**
* Don B. Kates (Ll.B., Yale, 1966) is an American criminologist and constitutional lawyer associated with the Pacific Research Institute, San Francisco.
** Gary Mauser (Ph.D., U. California, Irvine, 1970) is a Canadian criminologist and university professor at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC Canada.
If you still think guns represent a public health epidemic in America, take the
time to read THIS lengthy report.
To find out what could have potentially mittigated the Virginia Tech shooting, visit http://www.StudentsForConcealedCarryOnCampus.com, and/or watch this video:
The relevant content begins at the 06:00 mark.
In the 1970s, when America had significantly fewer firearms than it does now,
the Chief of Scotland Yard said he believed that America already had too many guns
to make extensive gun control possible in the U.S. Any attempt at implementing
strict gun control in a nation with over 200 million unregistered firearms
would only serve to disarm law-abiding citizens and stack the odds in favor of dangerous criminals not concerned
with following the rules.
Besides the impracticality of banning or heavily restricting guns, there is a fundamental flaw to the
notion that we should. The notion that the government should prohibit or tightly restrict the civilian ownership of firearms assumes that the government--the police and the
military--will always be ready, willing, and able to protect us. In this very
uncertain world of global warming, biological threats, and nuclear
proliferation, no person should bank his or her life or the lives of his or her
loved ones on the assumption that he or she will always be able to call 911 if
there is an emergency. Suggesting that the government should prohibit or tightly restrict the civilian ownership of firearms
also suggests that American citizens will never need protection FROM the government. That
position may sound extreme or even naive, but it's the reason our founding
fathers penned the Second Amendment. America is still a relatively young
nation. Much older empires have fallen in the past. Dictatorships have arisen
from equally cultured societies. For a free society to survive, the power must
always rest with the people.
England had about 60,000 gun owners. America currently has over 80,000,000.
The moderators of the
ProtestEasyGuns.com FaceBook group censor the group's page by deleting any
posts that do no reflect positively on the agenda of ProtestEasyGuns.com and by
banning any members who dare to question or disagree with ProtestEasyGuns.com. THIS Facebook page
is for ANYONE who wants to openly discuss the facts of the issue.
Here are ProtestEasyGunsLIES.com signs that can be printed onto anything
from 8.5" x 11" typing paper to T-shirt iron-on paper (available at
most office supply stores) to 36" x 24" poster board (Kinko's can do
this).
What the "Gun Nuts" Have to Say
"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared
to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic
purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and
sacrifice for that freedom." -- JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES
"By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia,' the 'security' of the
nation, and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms,' our founding
fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it
is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny, which gave rise
to the Second Amendment, will ever be a major danger to our nation, the
Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military
relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the
defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will
always be important." -- JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“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, PEACEFUL REVOLUTIONARY
"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." -- ARISTOTLE
“The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they
cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it
home and keep it in his bedroom. That rifle hanging on the wall of the
working-class flat or labourer's cottage, is the symbol of democracy. It is our
job to see that it stays there." -- GEORGE ORWELL
"Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no
matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms....
The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary
government, one more safeguard against tyranny... " -- HUBERT HUMPHREY,
FORMER U.S. SENATOR AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans
possess over the people of almost every other nation...[where] the governments
are afraid to trust the people with arms.” -- JAMES MADISON, AMERICAN FOUNDING
FATHER
"The great objective is that every man be armed ... . Everyone who is able
may have a gun." -- PATRICK HENRY, AMERICAN FOUNDING FATHER AND CATALYST
FOR THE BILL OF RIGHTS
"The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom" -- MACHIAVELLI
“From this we plainly see the folly and imprudence of demanding a thing, and
saying beforehand that it is intended to be used for evil; … For it is enough
to ask a man to give up his arms, without telling him that you intend killing
him with them; after you have the arms in hand, then you can do your will with
them.” -- MACHIAVELLI
"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." -- TENCHE COXE, REVOLUTIONARY ERA WRITER
"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" -- TENCHE COXE, REVOLUTIONARY ERA WRITER
"It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the
constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a
rifle. We believe in obeying the law." -- MALCOLM X, AMERICAN BLACK CIVIL
RIGHTS ACTIVIST
“... I must say this concerning the great controversy over rifles and shotguns.
The only thing I've ever said is that in areas where the government has proven
itself either unwilling or unable to defend the lives and the property of
Negroes, it's time for Negroes to defend themselves. Article number two of the
constitutional amendments provides you and me the right to own a rifle or a
shotgun. It is constitutionally legal to own a shotgun or a rifle." --
MALCOLM X, AMERICAN BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
"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..." -- SAMUEL ADAMS, MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
"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, POST-REVOLUTION U.S. ATTORNEY
"Arms, like laws, discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe and
preserve order..." -- THOMAS PAINE, AMERICAN REVOLUTION POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHER
"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." -- MAFIA INFORMANT SAMMY "THE BULL" GRAVANO
“[W]hereas, 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, MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be
properly armed." -- ALEXANDER HAMILTON, AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS
"The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full
possession of them." -- ZACHARIAH JOHNSON
"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 defense of themselves and
their country." -- TIMOTHY DWIGHT, ARMY CHAPLAIN DURING THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION