Opinion
United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- When we discussed how our support for the Second Amendment comes across, one of the items mentioned was the importance of maintaining your credibility. There are far too many in the media who seek to help in the cause of those who would take our freedoms away that would eagerly leap to paint us as liars or worse, thus depriving us of a key advantage, we have over the likes of Schumer, Feinstein, Bloomberg, and their ilk. It also hurts efforts to win over local media.
Think it won’t matter? In 1996, Al Salvi was running against Richard Durbin, an avowed opponent of our right to keep and bear arms, for a United States Senate seat. He falsely claimed that former White House Press Secretary James Brady had a Class III FFL. Salvi quickly apologized, but the damage was done, and Durbin is now Chuck Schumer’s sidekick in the Senate.
I wish I could say that’s the only time… but there are others, and many were prevalent in the 1990s, and they stick around today and can be found on many a web site. It is a classic booby trap… just waiting for some poor, unsuspecting Second Amendment supporter to do irreparable damage to their credibility by using them.
One such quote is attributed to Sarah Brady (deceased), and a variation of it is even the top quote on her page at azquotes.com: “Our task of creating a socialist America can only succeed when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed.”
It’s a damning quote – one to explain why the push for semi-auto bans or other laws that are completely ineffective at keeping guns away from bad guys. It explains the motive, nice and neat in a tidy package. There is just one problem:
She never said it!
Sarah Brady, for all her opposition to our right to keep and bear arms, was nowhere near socialism on the political spectrum. Granted she ultimately endorsed Democrats, but she was a lifelong Republican. There are, however, legitimate quotes that she did utter, including one that called for a “needs-based licensing” scheme for firearms.
In a similar vein, in efforts to oppose gun registration, some pull out a quote purportedly from Adolf Hitler: “This year will go down in history! For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!”
It’s another damning quote – one that ties the anti-Second Amendment agenda to one of history’s most iconic representations of evil. What could be better to show our moral superiority over the likes of Schumer, Bloomberg, and Feinstein? Again, there’s a problem:
He never said it!
There is no dispute that the Nazis used gun control to disarm their intended victims, including Jews. But we don’t need to resort to a phony quote. We have the history of places like Australia and the United Kingdom. In both countries, law-abiding gun owners who had registered their guns were then told to turn them in when politicians chose to wrongfully punish them for the acts of madmen who carried out mass shootings.
The worst of the phony quotes, though, are the ones allegedly uttered by the Founding Fathers. The most notable of these is the “liberty teeth” speech by George Washington. Guncite.com has outlined how that quote is not confirmed, as well as one by Thomas Jefferson that Gun Owners of America uses on its website. There are a number of real quotes from the Founding Fathers that support our right to keep and bear arms.
Thomas Jefferson said, “No free man shall be debarred the use of arms.”
Patrick Henry said, “The great object is, that every man be armed.”
Richard Henry Lee wrote that, “to preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms.”
Thomas Paine noted, “[A]rms . . . discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property.”
Samuel Adams warned that: “The said Constitution 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.”
If you ever have a doubt about the authenticity of a quote – you can look to some of the links in this article. Guncite.com listed a few phony quotes, as well as the phony ones from the Founding Fathers. If it isn’t listed there, contact the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. I can personally attest that they will be able to confirm if a quote is real or if its authenticity is doubtful.
Folks, our credibility is one of the most crucial assets we have in the fight to defend our freedoms. It is always better to tell someone, “I don’t know, but let me find out,” than to make an ass out of yourself and make it easier for the media to paint Second Amendment supporters as liars.
If a quote sounds too good to be true, it’s best to double-check it before you use it.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics, and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
We must be more virtuous than the enemies of freedom and good.
Is there anyone else in this country that can see what I am seeing. This is not the country that I was born into in 1952. I do not have a retarded son that I took to a shooting range to spend quality time with. I took my son to hunt when he was 12 years old and I purchased his first hunting rifle when he was 13. I taught him to respect a gun. Everyone needs to take a serious look at what we have elected as our government in the last 10 years/ Wake up and look at… Read more »
It makes no difference how stupid or whatever term you might use to describe the Democrat, Anti-American politicians. What matters are the stupid people that will vote for them and their claimed free shit!!!! That has been the Dept. of Education…..er, Indoctrination…..role. Lenin said “Give me the children, and I will change the country.” (paraphrased) The US kids have had revisionist history lies crammed down their throats and have been taught that America is bad. Our country is lost. We older farts will soon die off. The children have been transformed into anti-American traditional principle haters and major pussies and… Read more »
…not a “quote ” however Article IX of the Bill of Rights : “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People .” I know Justice Scalia was not a fan of this one …but …if you look into it …it is clearly designed to acknowledge that the “Rights ” spoken of are inherent in the citizens and do not come from the bureaucracy ( i.e. ruling class or now “Elites ” ) and that even if not set out in the Bill of Rights there are other… Read more »
“contact the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. I can personally attest that they will be able to confirm if a quote is real or if its authenticity is doubtful.” Yeah, this is a dubious recommendation. Take this quote: “You do not examine legislation in light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.” –LYNDON B. JOHNSON It appears in “Gun Control,” written by past NRA President Robert Kukla. When asked, Kukla cited the 1965-07-26 record of House Ways and Means (p.… Read more »
here is one meaningful uh quote from our Founding Fathers “the people are the Master the government is the Servant the people must always be well armed les the Master becomes the Servant” [SLAVE] & it really doesn’t matter if some Nazi Obama worshipping Fake Political Prostitute in the bogus anti-America media “re-defines” that such lacks authenticity or not what matters is TRUTH of substance & thee could NOT be a truer quote or statement of fact ever uttered than the above cess pool which the usual evil power abusing\hungry Soros Sucking Socialist Democrats have been so obcessed with shoving… Read more »
Since its the bill of rights and the word (people) is in the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th amendment..I have to believe our founders meant regulate as..To adjust to a particular standard, rate, amount, degree etc.
Back in the late 1700s, “well-regulated” did not imply “controlled” or “ruled”. It meant “in good working order” or “well-practiced” … as in “trained” and/or “skilled”. It referred to those with firearms gathering together periodically in groups of neighbors (local militia groups) and practicing to develop and retain skill with their firearms. You are correct about use of the word People. Expanding on that a bit — in the Constitution, the word People refers to all individual citizens, *not* to the collective citizenry (which is the State). Another related point is that *everywhere* in the Constitution that the word “Right”… Read more »
This list of firearm quotes is pretty solid:
https://www.famous-quote.net/quotes-on-firearms.html
Thanks for posting that link, Jack! Now bookmarked :-).
I don’t see any such page. It defaults back to the home page, with four vanilla quotes. Searching for firearm or gun produces the same result. Site seems to be broken.
Quotes can be accurate and yet still far removed from the context in which they originally appeared. Entire documents and full selections from documents that are relevant to a discussion are much to be preferred. There is a complete document collection regarding the Founding Era development of the Second Amendment as part of the U.S. Bill of Rights. The title is The Origin of the Second Amendment. The subtitle: A Documentary History of the Bill of Rights in Commentaries on Liberty, Free Government, and an Armed Populace, 1787-1792. This massive collection of Bill of Rights proposals, related discussions in state… Read more »
@David…Thank you, thank you, thank you…for imparting your extensive knowledge on the subject. This should all be included in a mandatory class every American student has to take, beginning in kindergarten. It could supplant the “reading with transvestites” brainwashing, or the “sodomy is a healthy lifestyle” horse manure they are now being fed.
OK, A bit of a reality check.
Adolf Hitler did make that quote and it was repeated by John Howard the then prime minister of Australia when they took our semi autos off us in the wake of the port Arthur mass shooting in 1996.
I have seen both of these comments.
No, that’s a well know bogus quote. It’s been around for a long time though and is repeated often. Germany already had tough gun control, including registration, imposed by the Weimar Republic. There were no new laws until 1938, when the Nazis relaxed gun laws for ‘good Germans.’
Absolutely a bogus quote. There’s no reason to believe that John Howard isn’t a gullible idiot.
Today the biggest problem is figuring out the difference between History and REVISIONIST HISTORY…
One of the biggest problems is that things people have said and the proof of those things are more often than not disappearing from the world, like the picture of Bill Clinton in Moscow in the 1960s.
We wouldn’t need to rely on quotes, if more of the populace had been gifted with common sense. (You can quote me)
@Harold Hutchinson, how do you know for a fact that they never said it? Can you prove that then never said it? Maybe they never said in in a speech or documented writing, but said it to no one in particular while walking from their chauffeured limousine to lunch. Maybe “what they said” was on the first draft of a speech, thrown away, and read by a zealous janitor. You don’t know. You just say you know. When something unpalatable is attributed to a Second Amendment patriot, any Second Amendment patriot, that patriot is force to prove that he did… Read more »
In many cases, it can be determined where it appeared for the first time (e.g., the Brady quote was), and its provenance there confirmed or debunked.
Great commentary and I couldn’t agree any more. I hear well meaning but badly informed helpers to the cause of the 2cd continually, get in deep water over something “they have heard”, it is cause for concern. I personally have learned to abstain from quoting,if incorrect the repercussions are painful.
Unfortunately, I see no end to the “validation” process since non of the people in the NRA-ILA or guncite.com were actually there. There is an inherent danger in using only a couple of sources that say they have the fact checking all worked out. And don’t depend on any other source.
Can they be absolutely sure that someone was at a small town gathering and didn’t say something? I don’t think so. Nor can they be sure that they did.
But, the general idea of what he is saying is good but no one can be 100%.
Also, to his point about her not being a socialist, if she is or supports a Democrat, she IS supporting socialism/communism.
If you don’t know that socialism is communism, do some research.
Also, if you don’t know the Democratic Party has its roots in Marxism, continue researching. It’s a real eye opener.
One more thing, take a look at how many Dems have associations with Communism.
As much as I would *like* to agree with you, Robert, keep in mind that back in the last century when Sarah Brady was actively involved, the Democratic Party was not associated with Socialism. Heaven knows that they are inextricably linked *today*, but not back then. Sarah Brady was a lifetime Republican, who supported Democrats toward the end probably because only they were supporting gun-control measures (even though all of the measures were ineffective). So it’s unlikely that she supported Socialism in any form (although you might possibly imply that she supported a from of fascism, if she supported disarmament… Read more »
Upon seeing that picture did anyone else immediately think, “ET phone home.”
Great article from Harold Hutchison and very relevant to our struggle to maintain our constitutional rights. In our “meme” motivated society it is so easy to advocate for a lie. Sad. Like Hutchison said, the truth can be found as well it should. There is only one truth and there are many lies. Movements, crusades, marches, wars and even laws based on lies and deception will all eventually crumble. It is unfortunate now that truth is relative to whatever; whatever is true for me is truth. That in itself would not be such a terrible thing except that many in… Read more »
There are endless quotes to support and armed populace. I believe quotes have become a popular pastime in the US and I honestly have never heard anyone use any of the above quotes. Here’s something to add to the list of legit quotes: Article VI, Supreme Law of the Land! It’s found within the US Constitution and it literally means anyone who is not in good standing with the US Constitution, is to be Defunded, Disbarred, and Discharged from Office, and that all unconstitutional laws and regulations are moot. Quite a quote.. #2A #1A #ArticleVI
That’s the best one of them all. Would solve a lot of our pesky communist problems. The big question is, why aren’t the politicians hearing bars shut behind them for this treachery???
@Robert Pollard….The day may be coming soon. Rumors are that the purge has begun and Military Tribunals have commenced as of Jan. 2 of this year. The MSM has refused to report on this, maybe because they fear that they will eventually be targets also. By law, military tribunals are secret, but some info is allowed to be leaked to special sources. There is info on the net now. Like I say, I am treating this as unconfirmed rumors for the time being, but what has been posted so far is very, very interesting.
Great article from Harold Hutchison and very relevant to our struggle to maintain our constitutional rights. In our “meme” motivated society it is so easy to advocate for a lie. Sad. Like Hutchison said, the truth can be found as well it should. There is only one truth and there are many lies. Movements, crusades, marches, wars and even laws based on lies and deception will all eventually crumble. It is unfortunate now that truth is relative to whatever; whatever is true for me is truth. That in itself would not be such a terrible thing except that many in… Read more »
There are enough powerful REAL quotes that we shouldn’t be said when a great quote turns out to be fake. “Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.” – Samuel Adams “They currently have guns, and therefore we are for ‘peace’ and ‘reformation through the ballot.’ When we have all the guns, then it will be through the bullet.”’ ~ Saul Alinsky “The people in the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in… Read more »
It’s like that movie from 1856 where Lincoln and Davis are seen discussing how to disarm the south after the war. A buddy of mine told me about it.
LOL !!
I find that the lies about guns and their owners are encouraged by the left and their lap dog media with NO repercussions, but hell breaks loose when a 2nd amendment supporter makes a “disingenuous” comment. The word lie in progressive lexicon does not exist. Saul Alinsky is smiling up from hell!
I say this all the time when someone uses a fake founders quote. I’m guilty of doing that in the past some people won’t admit they’re wrong and adjust themselves accordingly.
i am in awe of the fact that the left is using the 1st amendment to quash the second amendment , I propose that we ban stupidity/ignorance e.g. you should not be allowed to speak/write about anything you do not obviously/fully understand , and if you do , you should be tied to a post in a public square and beaten brutally about the head and shoulders with a knotted plow line 😉
The 2nd amendment protects the rest, lose the 2nd, then the 1st, 4th, 5th and all the others will be meaningless. That’s their goal. There’s a revolution coming, it’s going to make the Bolshevik revolution look like a picnic in the park, but this time the socialists will lose. Keep your powder dry.
Homeland Security agrees with your assessment. It told Congress, in a 2015 “white paper” that a revolution is coming. So, yes indeed… keep your powder dry.
Some leftists and Democrats (is THAT a modern redundancy, or what!?) have recently been heard suggesting outright repeal of the 2nd Amendment. THAT ought to be a warning for EVERYONE, since if the 2nd were to be repealed, it would establish a precedent to repeal ALL of the Bill of Rights.
Because our liberty teeth have grown dull from lack of use.
It seems that LIberty Tree is growing thirsty…… will its thirst have to be slaked, or will right and justice preveil without resorting to that?
Agreed. But I can tell you from first hand experience that the Progressive New Left has no such compunction about using false information. While an undergrad at a very left wing, probably the most left wing public university in the 1970’s I was introduced to the concept of Noble Fiction in a classical political theory seminar. The prof first referenced it in our Platonic readings and then went on to give examples of noble fictions used by the anti-war movement. There was no such concern among faculty or students at the time and that ethical blind spot seems to have… Read more »