Debating the GunLoons (Part Deux)
GunLoons will frequently bombard you with quotes from the Founders.
Here’s one from a frequent commenter at Kevin Baker’s site:
“The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”—Thomas Jefferson
Problem is, Thomas Jefferson of Declaration of Independence, third US President, etc. fame–never said it. It is fabricated.
Often, GunLoons will use cite actual quotes—just not in context or somewhat truncated. Here’s a wonderful quote, courtesy of Glenn Reynolds, aka InstaCracker, from Patrick Henry:
“The great object is that every man be armed…. Everyone who is able may have a gun.”
Sounds like Patrick Henry wanted everone to be armed, huh? Unfortunately for InstaCracker, Henry was talking about the militia clause of the Constitution and military–not individual weapons. Here’s the whole of Patrick Henry’s quote:
“Our militia shall have two sets of arms, double sets of regimentals, &c.; and thus, at a very great cost, we shall he doubly armed. The great object is that every man [of the militia] be armed. But can the people afford to pay for double sets of arms, &c? Every one who is able may have a gun. But we have learned, by experience, that, necessary as it is to have arms, and though our Assembly has, by a succession of laws for many years, endeavored to have the militia completely armed, it is still far from being the case.”
Rule: Always research the quotes provided by GunLoons.
A note regarding the Founders. The Founders of this country were a diverse group, some were politicos, some farmers, some military men, etc. They were wise and they were abysmally ignorant. Quite often they wrote contradictory things. For example, Jefferson was very eloquent in talking about rights and equality. But he owned slaves. And his writings indicate white and black races could never co-exist.
