"Blessed (be) the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, (and) my fingers to fight:"
--Psalms 144:1

"Then He said to them ... and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."
-- Luke 22:36 (Jesus sending the disciples out on their own)

"Fear no man what'er his size, for I am here to Equalize"
-- Sam Colt ad slogan

"...an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
--Thomas Jefferson (and that goes for women, too!)

"When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."
--Anonymous

"When a strong man armed keepth his palace, his goods are in peace."
-- Luke 11:21

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."
-- Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon, 1942

"A man that hath a sword by his side shall have least occasion to make use of it."
-- J. Trenchard & W. Moyle

"The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave."
--Andrew Fletcher

"It's quicker to pull your Smith & Wesson than to dial 911."
--Lt. Lowell Duckett, special asst. to DC Police Chief; President of the Black Police Caucus, Washington Post March 22, 1996.

"Whether or not you need a 'man-stopper' isn't your choice, either. Who might you shoot? The guy who is threatening your life. That's the same guy that gets to decide if you've shot him enough. Convince him."
-- Response to a question of caliber suitability (in this case, .22LR), on The High Road forum

"It is better to be judged by 12 than carried by six."
-Lt. Fess Hawkins, Greenville SC PD circa 1963 (not original)

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"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of firearms."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes."
--Thomas Jefferson

"The said constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
-- Samuel Adams

"Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the people's liberty's teeth."
--George Washington

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms."
--James Madison

"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."
--Thomas Paine

"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference; they deserve a place with all that's good. When firearms go, all goes; we need them every hour."
--George Washington

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."
-- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-8

"The people have a right to keep and bear arms..."
-- Henry and George Mason, Elliot, Debates at 185

"Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing deradation that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?
-- Patrick Henry

"A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined..."
-- George Washington

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. ... Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."
-- Thomas Jefferson letter to Peter Carr, 1785

"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.
--Daniel Webster

"The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun."
-- Patrick Henry

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

"The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
-- Benjamin Franklin

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"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. "
-- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity. "
- - Sigmund Freud, General Introduction to Psychoanalysis (1952)

"A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie."
-- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

"Americans have the will to resist because you have weapons. If you don't have a gun, freedom of speech has no power. "
-- Yoshimi Ishikawa

"I like automatic weapons. I fought for my right to use them in Vietnam."
-- Oliver Stone, 1994

"A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand."
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, c. 4BC - 65AD.

"Some princes, so as to hold securely the state, have disarmed their subjects.... But when you disarm them, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred against you. And because the government cannot remain unarmed, it follows that the government turns to hired police. Therefore a wise prince has always distributed arms to the general population."
-- Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter 20 (L. Ricci translation, pg. 105, 1952)

"The Constitution of the United States of America clearly affirms the right of every American citizen to bear arms."
-- Malcolm X, in Malcolm X at 337, J. Clarke ed. (New York, N.Y., 1969)

"The unarmed man is not just defenseless - he is also contemptible."
-- Machiavelli

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
-- Mark Twain

"Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't." -Unknown

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"Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of private firearms is the goal."
-- Janet Reno

"Our task of creating a socialist America can only succeed when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed."
-- Sara Brady, Chairman, Handgun Control International

"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans..."
-- Bill Clinton

"A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie."
-- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

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"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Australia, after the 1996 firearms ban:

"Fatal shootings in Victoria have increased despite the introduction of tighter gun laws in 1996, a (AIC) study has found." State's gun deaths rise"
- - Herald Sun - Victoria - 3/6/99

"Queensland Police Commissioner Jim O'Sullivan yesterday expressed "grave concern" as the number of armed robberies across the state took a big jump for the second year running."
-- Sunshine Coast Daily - 13/11/98

"Crime involving guns is on the rise despite tougher laws. The number of robberies with guns jumped 39% in 1997 while assaults involving guns rose 28% and murders by 19%. (ABS figures)" - "Gun crime soars.."
- - Sydney Morning Herald - 28/10/98

"Robbery with a firearm increased nearly 60 per cent over the previous financial year."
-- South Australian Police Annual Report - tabled in State Parliament 27/10/98

"According to ABS figures, the number of people robbed at gunpoint in NSW rose from 827 (827) in 1996 to 1252 in 1997."
-- Sunday Telegraph - Sydney - 14/3/98

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"....a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is suitable for use in a sporting event."
- Double-speak from a proposed assault gun bill.

"Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old to fight, he'll just kill you."

"I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy."

"When asked "Why do you carry a 45?", The Old Ranger responded,"Because they don't make a 46."

"An armed man will kill an unarmed man with monotonous regularity."

"When asked if he was wearing his sidearm because he was expecting trouble, the Old Ranger replied: "No Ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle."

"Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it!"

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