GUN POLICY
By Dr. Lawrence Wilson
© February 2023, LD Wilson Consultants, Inc.
Contents
I. Quotes About Guns From The American Founders
II. Quotes About Weapons From Religious Leaders
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I. QUOTES ABOUT GUNS FROM THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS
This is a core article of this website. The founders of America pondered carefully the issue of whether the people should be allowed to own and use firearms. Here is a sampling of their observations and conclusion:
"To
disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them."
-
George Mason, referencing advice given to the British Parliament by
Pennsylvania governor Sir William Keith, The Debates in the
Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal
Constitution, June 14, 1788
“They
that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
"God
grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to
guard and defend it."
-
Daniel Webster
"The
right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been
considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;
since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and
arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are
successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and
triumph over them."
- Joseph Story, Commentaries on the
Constitution of the United States, 1833
"Necessity
is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves."
-
William Pitt (the Younger), Speech in the House of Commons, November
18, 1783
"The
(American) Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the
people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping
their own arms."
- Samuel Adams, Massachusetts
Ratifying Convention, 1788
"This
may be considered as the true palladium of liberty.... The right of
self-defense is the first law of nature:
in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this
right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies
are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is,
under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not
already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction."
- St.
George Tucker, Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of
England, 1803
“A
militia when properly formed are in fact the people themselves…and
include, according to the past and general usage of the states, 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, Federal
Farmer No. 18, January
25, 1788
"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....
The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able
might have a gun."
- Patrick Henry, Speech to the
Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 5, 1778
z"The
right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A
well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained
to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country."
-
James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789
"The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms, like law, discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property.
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.
And
while a single nation refuses to lay them down, it is proper that all
should keep them up. Horrid mischief would ensue were one-half the
world deprived of the use of them; for while avarice and ambition
have a place in the heart of man, the weak will become a prey to the
strong. The history of every age and nation establishes these
truths, and facts need but little arguments when they prove
themselves."
- Thomas Paine, "Thoughts on
Defensive War" in Pennsylvania Magazine, July 1775
"Before
a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in
almost every country in 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."
- Noah
Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the
Federal Constitution, October 10, 1787
"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 (The Second Amendment) in their right to keep and bear
their private arms."
- Tench Coxe, Philadelphia
Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789
"The
Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert
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, letter to John
Cartwright, 5 June 1824
"I
ask who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except
a few public officers."
-
George Mason, Address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 4,
1788
"A
free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined..."
-
George Washington, First Annual Address, to both House of Congress,
January 8, 1790
"No
free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-
Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
"I
prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
-
Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787
"What
country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned
from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of
resistance. Let them take arms."
- Thomas Jefferson,
letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787
"The
laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They
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, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th
century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776
"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind.
Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
"On
every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry
ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted,
recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying
[to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented
against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it
was passed."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William
Johnson, 12 June 1823
"I
enclose you a list of the killed, wounded, and captives of the enemy
from the commencement of hostilities at Lexington in April, 1775,
until November, 1777, since which there has been no event of any
consequence ... I think that upon the whole it has been about one
half the number lost by them, in some instances more, but in others
less. This difference is ascribed to our superiority in taking
aim when we fire; every soldier in our army having been intimate with
his gun from his infancy."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter
to Giovanni Fabbroni, June 8, 1778
"Besides
the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the
people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate
governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the
militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the
enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple
government of any form can admit of."
- James
Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788
"...the
ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in
the people alone..."
-
James Madison, Federalist No. 46, January 29, 1788
"What,
Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a
standing army, the bane of liberty .... Whenever Governments mean to
invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to
destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins."
-
Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, I Annals of Congress
750, August 17, 1789
"For
it is a truth, which the experience of ages has attested, that the
people are always most in danger when the means of injuring their
rights are in the possession of those of whom they entertain the
least suspicion."
- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist
No. 25, December 21, 1787
"If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers, may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual state.
In
a single state, if the persons entrusted with supreme power become
usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which
it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no
regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to
arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in
their courage and despair."
- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist
No. 28
"[I]f
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 own rights and those of their
fellow-citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be
devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against
it, if it should exist."
- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist
No. 28, January 10, 1788
"A
patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an
honest man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no
moral obligations bind, can have any real good will towards men? Can
he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the
very bonds of society? ... The
scriptures tell us "righteousness exalteth a Nation."
-
Abigail Adams
"(There
is) no government armed with power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion.
Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest
cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our
Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
-
John Adams
II. QUOTES ABOUT WEAPONS FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Moses ordered the Israelites in the desert of Sinai to pick up the weapons of the Egyptian army after this army had been drowned in the Red Sea. (Exact quote coming) - The Old Testament Of The Bible, Book of Exodus.
"When
a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are
safe."
- Luke 11:21
"Jesus
said, 'But now whoever has a purse or a bag, must take it and whoever
does not have a sword must sell his cloak and buy one.'"
-
Luke 22:36
"Though
defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of
men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers
should dominate just men."
- Saint Augustine
"Without
doubt one is allowed to resist against the unjust aggressor to one's
life, one's goods or one's physical integrity; sometimes, even 'til
the aggressor’s death.... In fact, this act is aimed at preserving
one’s life or one’s goods and to make the aggressor powerless.
Thus, it is a good act, which is the right of the victim."
-
Saint Thomas Aquinas
The above is an important introduction to a critical subject. Please re-read it many times. The American founders and religious leaders were wise men and women.
Today, some in America want to reduce the ability of the people to defend themselves. This is an old trick of the authoritarians, socialists and communists. A well-armed population is difficult to control.
WORLD WAR II EXAMPLES
During World War II, about 100 people with handguns kept an entire Nazi army out of the Polish Warsaw ghetto for an entire month.
During the same war, the law in Switzerland that every home was required to have a semi-automatic assault rifle kept the Nazis completely out of that nation, although Switzerland is the close neighbor of Germany.
THE DOUBLE STANDARD
Liberals, progressives and others who rant and rave about gun control are total hypocrites. They have armed bodyguards and they are not about to give them up.
They just don’t want everyone to have protection because they know that an armed population is difficult to control. Their real agenda is to disarm the American people to make them easier to control.
PHONY LANGUAGE
Today the Democratic Party gun grabbers in America couch their rhetoric in statements and organizations with sweet-sounding names. They call it “A peace plan”, “March For Our Lives” and “Mothers Against Violence”.
However, this is not the truth! In fact, it is a simple power grab so that the people of the United States will lose more control over their lives.
GUNS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM
The truth is that guns do not cause violence. The cities in America with the strictest gun control laws such as Chicago have the highest crime rates. Meanwhile, those areas with the highest rates of gun ownership have lower crime rates.
The criminals find ways to get guns illegally. The people need access to them easily, privately and inexpensively.
Guns protect people and stop thousands of murders, rapes, other assaults and robberies every year in America and everywhere else in the world. That is why bodyguards and security forces have guns.
SICK MINDS CAUSE VIOLENCE
We’re breeding sick minds with junk food. If you don’t believe this, look up The Twinkie Defense on Wikipedia or other websites. It is the legal excuse that hypoglycemia causes murder.
Medical drugs such as anti-depressants, especially given to young people, have suicide and homicide as known side effects. Look up Peter Breggin, MD on Wikipedia or other sites. Most of the so-called “mass shooters” around the world were taking SSRI anti-depressants such as Prozac when they committed their crimes.
Toxic metals are another cause of violence. Look up manganese madness on Wikipedia or other websites.
Brain allergies are also a serious and largely avoidable problem. Look up the work of Benjamin Feingold, MD, author of Why Your Child Is Hyperactive and Doris Rapp, MD, author of Is This Your Child’s World. They proved that reactions to foods easily cause erratic behavior and violence – and the violent behavior can be prevented by removing the chemicals in our food supply.
Other imbalances in body chemistry besides toxic metals, toxic chemicals and hypoglycemia also cause violence.
This is well-proven by the studies of prisoners by William Walsh and Dr. Richard Gottchaulk. Another man who researched the subject is Alexander Schauss, PhD, author of Diet, Crime And Delinquency.
For more details, read Why People Kill?
WHY IS THIS RESEARCH NOT USED TO DETERMINE PUBLIC POLICY?
The research above is not taught in school or to policy makers. It is an important reason to keep your children out of schools!
Also, many in government want to bury the real causes of violence and instead ban guns. This serves at least two purposes for them:
1. They acquire much more power over the people. Many government employees have disdain for the ‘ordinary’ people and for the doctrines of America which places sovereignty in the hands of the Citizens, not the government.
2. Ongoing violence and shootings keeps the people afraid and therefore more likely to go along with all the schemes to ban guns.
According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and other reporting agencies:
* 65% of gun deaths in the USA are suicides. These are mostly done by old men who are very ill and no longer want to be a burden to their families. Gun control laws won’t stop these deaths because they can use knives or other methods.
* The next largest category of gun deaths (about 20%) are inner-city gang-related deaths of young men, age 15-24. These guns are often illegally obtained, so gun control laws don’t stop them. Cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, which have the tightest gun control laws in America, are among the cities with the highest numbers of gang-related gun deaths - a few every week. Obviously, gun control does not work here!
* The next largest category of shootings are of women shot during domestic violence. Gun control laws will not stop domestic violence, which does not require a gun.
* School and related shootings. Last year in America there were six of these in America. Even the very left-wing Mother Jones Magazine only recorded seven because they included a terrorist attack in their numbers. However, you would think they occur every day. Some groups inflate the numbers by reclassifying all sorts of events into ‘mass shootings’.
In other words, the shootings that make the news such as school shootings represent a tiny proportion of shootings. Gun control laws would not stop these. They often take place in cities with strict gun control laws.
Testing of the hair for toxic metals would help, however, to identify these sick individuals before they commit crimes.
Also, while liberal politicians scream about banning rifles, the FBI statistics show that only 2% of homicides involved rifles in 2018! This is fewer homicides than involved knives (11 percent), hands, fists and feet (5%) and blunt objects (3%).
CONCEALED CARRY IS A GOOD IDEA
According to the Crime Prevention Research Center the number of permits issued for concealed carry of a weapon has increased to over 18 million in the USA, and this does not count the people in 16 American states that do not require a permit for concealed carry.
Women, especially black women, are the fastest growing group of Americans acquiring permits to carry concealed weapons.
Yet, some want to reduce the ability of the people to defend themselves. This is an old trick of the authoritarians, socialists and communists. Of course, these people have their armed guards that follow them around day and night.
The real reason they want gun control is that a well-armed population is difficult for the socialists and communists to control.
America and some other nations have undergone some important changes in the past four or five years that is not being reported. The first update from 2019 reports the truth that crime was decreasing in America and has been for several decades, though this is rarely reported and although gun ownership has increased dramatically in America over that period of time.
The second update is after the lockdowns related to the Wuhan flue outbreak (there was no pandemic – another government lie). The lockdowns and other blatantly illegal acts by governments in the United States and elsewhere caused a spike in crime. Here are the updates:
UPDATE 11/19/19. Gun violence decreases in America. The American Federal Bureau Of Investigation just released the crime statistics for the USA for 2018. The crime rate is down compared to the previous year, continuing a 30-year trend in the USA.
Over the same time period, gun ownership in America has drastically increased and there are now estimated to be 400 million guns in the hands of the people. This means the more guns, the safer the people.
According to the FBI statistics, robbery in 2018 fell 12% over the previous year. The murder rate fell 6.2%. There is no “gun violence epidemic”, as we are told by the media.
UPDATE 2/24/23. Murder increased dramatically during the lockdowns related to the Wuhan flu. This was totally illegal and very upsetting for millions of people around the world. Also, in the past two years, a number of cities and American state put in place liberal policies of not punishing criminals and calls to defund the police. This has also resulted in more crime.
References
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19. Wiley, H., The History of the Crime Against the Food Law, available from the National Health Federation, Monrovia, CA.
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