In the spirit of the 2A

[dukesean]

Mods, please feel free to move this thread, but I didn't see any other category that was particularly pertinent.

In my research and study of the Constitution, I've seen some quotes that I find particularly useful in defending the intentions of the founding fathers, which I often use when discussing the 2A with some of my rather anti-gun friends. It helps when people say things like "oh the 2A was written a completely different time" to which I respond, "then yea the 1A doesn't apply anymore either, they didn't have the internet back then" and fire off with some of these quotes. I hope you might find these as useful as I have.

"[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, The Federalist Papers, No. 46.

"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves...and include all men capable of bearing arms".
-- Richard Henry Lee, member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights (additional letters from the Federal Farmer. 1788).

"On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invent against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed".
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823 (The Complete Jefferson, p322.)

"The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals."
--President James Monroe (November 16, 1818)

"One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them."
--Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1796

"Arms in the hands of the citizens may be used at individual discretion for the defense of the country, the overthrow of tyranny or private self-defense."
--John Adams (1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
--George Washington


And a couple of my favorites:

"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's "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776, quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria in Chapter 40 of "On Crimes and Punishment", 1764.

"The said Constitution [shall] be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms."
--Samuel Adams of Massachusetts -- U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788

[seamusTX]

"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not…"
--Thomas Jefferson

Do you have an original source for this one? I'm asking because I have tried to find one and can't. It does not sound like something that Jefferson would have said.

Other than that, thanks for putting together this list.

- JIm

[dukesean]

"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not…"
--Thomas Jefferson

Do you have an original source for this one? I'm asking because I have tried to find one and can't. It does not sound like something that Jefferson would have said.

Other than that, thanks for putting together this list.

- JIm

You know, I can't really trace this back to any particular letter that he wrote or any speech that he made. I'll see if I can track it down, but I've seen the quote attributed to Jefferson on several occasions.

[Hyunchback]

Doesn't appear to be from Jefferson, or at least not from THE Jefferson.

This link is to an Urban Legends statement on About.com

http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.asp ... s&tid=9265

One attribution crediting Jefferson appears in a signature line on a gun forum here:
http://ybbs.shrapnet.com/forums/index.php?topic=1075.0

And this gun forum also credits Jefferson with it:

http://cap-n-ball.com/fathers_p.htm

Snopes seems to be silent on the quote meaning they haven't attempted to answer the question.

[dukesean]

Thanks for the links. So, basically the conclusion is that no one, not even Jefferson scholars, have been able to attribute this quote to him:

http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/in ... into_plows

Until it can be proven to have come from Jefferson then I will not use that quote anymore.

[lrb111]

"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not…"
--Thomas Jefferson

Do you have an original source for this one? I'm asking because I have tried to find one and can't. It does not sound like something that Jefferson would have said.

Other than that, thanks for putting together this list.

- JIm

iirc, the original was "Those that beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those that don't." Jefferson quoting Seneca (????) the elder, maybe..
http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=274

[TDDude]

Thanks for the links. So, basically the conclusion is that no one, not even Jefferson scholars, have been able to attribute this quote to him:

http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/in ... into_plows

Until it can be proven to have come from Jefferson then I will not use that quote anymore.

"Those who trade in their guns for a $50 govt. sponsored no questions asked fee will fear those who do not"

TD Dude, 2008

There. I said it. You can quote me. No more questions.

I even put a modern spin on it for those of you from the 1980's public school system and may not know what a plowshare is.