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An armed society is a polite society. “A free people out 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 “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 Idaho has very few restrictions on gun purchases and ownerships. Its murder rate is 1.8/100,000 residents. Washington, DC has the most stringent gun laws in America, and that city's murder rate is 80.6/100,000. Both England and Australia have experienced higher crime rates since they passed draconian gun laws. England has confiscated most privately owned guns. From April through November, 2001, firearm homicides jumped nearly 90% of the previous year. In Switzerland, which requires adult males to keep guns in their homes, there are at least 2,000,000 legally owned guns (one for every three people), and crimes involving guns are so rare that no record is kept of them. Gun rights opponents never mention the tens of thousands of violent crimes that are not completed each year because the intended victims were found to be armed. The right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment makes us all safer, whether we own a a gun or not. Slightly revised from an article by Prohibition
Party Chairman Earl F. Dodge, writing in The National Statesman, July,
2002. The source of the data is not given. “The right to bear arms is the right that protects all others—and the United Nations is the most powerful enemy of that right. If the UN succeeds in disarming Americans, the ability to resist tyranny will be eroded, and the stage will be set for a reign of terror unlike any in American history.” — William Norman Grigg (John Birch Society) “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!” — Patrick Henry “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.” — Adolf Hitler, democratically elected dictator, 1933 |