The Last Word

Compiled by John Kalb

To prohibit a citizen from wearing or carrying a war arm...is an unwarranted restriction upon the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege.

—Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

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

—Thomas Jefferson

The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.

—Albert Einstein

The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.

—Hubert H. Humphrey

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

—Mahatma Gandhi

To disarm the people is the best and most effective way to enslave them.

—George Mason

Expecting a carjacker or rapist or drug pusher to care that his possession or use of a gun is unlawful is like expecting a terrorist to care that his car bomb is taking up two parking spaces.

—Joseph T. Chew

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.

—Noah Webster

To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.

—Richard Henry Lee

The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference—they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.

—George Washington

You need the will to disarm the civilian population. If we can do it in Somalia, we can do it here.

—Mary McGrory

I don’t care about crime, I just want to get the guns.

—Howard Metzenbaum

Taking my gun away because I might shoot someone is like cutting my tongue out just because I might yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater.

—Peter Venetoklis

This country was founded by religious nuts with guns.

—P.J. O’Rourke

Four out of five politicians surveyed prefer unarmed, ignorant peasants.

—Anonymous

A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer’s hand.

—Seneca

An armed republic submits less easily to the rule of one of its citizens than a republic armed by foreign forces. Rome and Sparta were for many centuries well armed and free. The Swiss are well armed and enjoy great freedom. Among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible. It is not reasonable to suppose that one who is armed will obey willingly one who is unarmed; or that any unarmed man will remain safe among armed servants.

—Niccolo Machiavelli

When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans... And so a lot of people say there’s too much personal freedom. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it. That’s what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on the public housing projects, about how we’re going to have weapon sweeps and more things like that to try to make people safer in their communities.

—Bill Clinton

We must be able to arrest people before they commit crimes. By registering guns and knowing who has them we can do that... If they have guns they are pretty likely to commit a crime.

—Vermont State Senator Mary Ann Carlson