The Thomas Jefferson Quote about Gun Control:
“The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” – Thomas Jefferson quote about Gun Control
My Thoughts on Jefferson’s quote on Gun Control:
Generally, the Founding Fathers were very wise and politically astute. George Washington, for example, understood why studying politics is so important, as I point out in my “George Washington on Studying Politics” post. He knew that students of politics would make better representatives and be better at helping the country chart a path forward. The advice he gives in that short quotation is timeless and crucial.
Similarly, Alexander Hamilton understood “The Tension between Safety and Liberty,” as I pointed out in a post of that name. Mastering the balance of those two so that the tension is resolved. Coincidentally, studying politics and learning the political system is a great way to understand and master the tension between liberty and safety.
Thomas Jefferson rivals Washington and Hamilton in his brilliance, especially in regards to liberty. While understanding the balance between liberty and safety is important, Jefferson definitely leaned much more towards liberty. And gun rights are a form of liberty, which is one of the reasons that I think gun rights are human rights. Hence why this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control is no exception; like many other statements of the Founding Fathers, it is brilliant.
Because gun rights fall under the general category of “liberty,” I could think of no better Founding Father than Thomas Jefferson when looking for quotes about why gun control is such a bad idea. As is pointed out in this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control, gun control only affects law-abiding citizens negatively; criminals don’t obey the law, so they are unaffected. If only people like Joe Biden that want to take our guns would remember that.
Gun Control won’t Stop Criminals:
As is said in this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control, criminals don’t care about the law, so why would their actions be affected by gun control laws? The answer is that they won’t be affected by gun control; instead, they will just keep breaking the law.
For example, there are currently dozens of laws relating to illegally obtaining firearms and using firearms to commit a crime. Yet criminals continue to use pistols, shotguns, and a variety of other weapons (although usually not so-called “assault weapons”) to commit crimes. Bank robberies, home invasions, muggings, and homicides still happen despite our current gun control regime. Why would new laws be any better at deterring crime? Well, for the reason given in this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control; criminals are criminals.
As long as there are weapons for criminals to use, they will use them. Great Britain is currently trying to implement knife buybacks because extreme limitations on firearm ownership didn’t stop criminals. Now, citizens in Great Britain have to have a special permit just to buy knives. But still crime continues. So, the only result has been that innocent civilians are left unarmed, as would be guessed by reading this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control.
Gun-related legislation doesn’t stop criminals because criminals, by definition, break the law. I pointed out, like various other writers and pundits, that gun-free zones haven’t stopped mass shootings or robberies. If anything, those laws have increased crime by creating soft targets, like Jefferson describes in the last clause of the above quote. I pointed that out in my “Criminals and Gun-Free Zones” post.
Laws and regulations don’t stop criminals; law-abiding citizens with firearms stop criminals. Yet gun control fanatics seem bent on hurting the average citizen by making firearm ownership illegal. That is what you need to take away from this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control.
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How Gun Control Hurts Law-Abiding Citizens:
While criminals are not affected in the slightest by gun control laws, law-abiding gun owners are only hurt by gun control.
The main way is that firearm restrictions mean that law-abiding gun owners can’t protect themselves from the criminals who don’t care about ridiculous restrictions on firearms.
Like I mentioned in “Reasons to Own a Firearm,” self-defense is one of the main reasons why the 2nd Amendment is so important. Firearm ownership means that we can easily and effectively defend ourselves from criminals. Small, young women can defend themselves from vicious, burly men. Children fight off home invaders have a fighting chance. Potential victims instead become victors. That’s the point of both this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control and the quote by Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper on fighting violent crime.
Jefferson, in this quote, describes how firearm ownership stops criminals, but restricting firearm ownership only turns people into soft targets. I couldn’t agree with him more. With guns, the law abiding elements of society can deter or fight off the evil elements of society.
But, without adequate weapons, we are helpless in the face of criminals because we become the soft targets that Jefferson describes in this quotation. Gun control doesn’t stop criminals; it just turns more people into likely victims.
Conclusion to My Analysis of Thomas Jefferson’s Quote about Gun Control:
I think Jefferson would agree with me when I say that all gun control is not only unconstitutional, but also immoral. James Madison, Jefferson’s protégé, wrote the 2nd Amendment. Like Jefferson, he understood why gun rights should be enshrined in the Bill of Rights: they’re human rights. Some liberal politicians now say that those rights don’t matter because no one needs to own a certain gun, such as an AR-15. But, that argument is irrelevant. It is a Bill of Rights that Madison created, not a Bill of Needs. So it should be very obvious that gun control is unconstitutional.
What is less obvious to many is that gun control is immoral. Many liberals say that it is moral because it will “protect the children” or “lower firearm violence in inner cities.” Both of those statements are wildly inaccurate.
Increasing gun control laws will not protect the children or decrease violence because it will disarm countless more law-abiding citizens and prevent them from defending themselves. But since criminals don’t care about the law, they will still be armed. They will just have more potential prey to attack and rob, which I think is the point of this Thomas Jefferson quote about gun control.
Surrendering your weapons will make you easy prey for criminals and the government, as Jefferson points out. Take Jefferson’s advice and defend your 2nd Amendment rights. Don’t surrender them.
Image at top from : AZ Quotes
By: Gen Z Conservative.
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