40 Reasons To Own Firearms

I Own Firearms Because A Bunch Of Old, Dead, White Folks Said I Should:

1) "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a
last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." ~ Thomas Jefferson.

2) "The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly
armed." ~ Alexander Hamilton.

3) "Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the
world as well as property." ~ Thomas Paine.

4) "Americans need not fear the federal government because they enjoy the advantage of
being armed, which you possess over the people of almost every other nation." ~ James
Madison.

5) "The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference; they deserve
a place of honor with all that's good." ~ George Washington.

6) "The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun."
~ Patrick Henry.

7) "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined
nor determined to commit crimes" ~ Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria.

8) "To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." ~ George
Mason.

9) "The said Constitution be never construed... to prevent the people of the United States
who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." ~ Samuel Adams.

10) "But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary
government, and one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in
America, but which historically has proved to be always possible." ~ Hubert Humphrey.

11) "I carried it (a revolver) religiously and during the summer I asked a friend, a man
who had been one of Franklin's bodyguards in New York State, to give me some practice
in target shooting so that if the need arose I would know how to use the gun." ~ Eleanore
Roosevelt.

12) "By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia', the 'security' of the nation, and the
right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms', our founding fathers recognized the
essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears
of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major
danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic
civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the
defense of his country. For that reason, I believe the Second Amendment will always be
important." ~ John F. Kennedy.

I Own Firearms Because History Says I Should:

13) 1911: Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians,
unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

14) 1929: Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 40-60 million
citizens, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated or starved to
death.

15) 1935: China established gun control. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political
dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

16) 1938: Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews,
Catholics and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and
exterminated.

17) 1956: Cambodia established gun control. From 1975 to 1977, one million 'educated'
people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated."

18) 1964: Guatemala established gun control. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan
Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

19) 1966-1976: China still has gun control. Another 50-100 million civilians, unable to
defend themselves, were killed in Mao Tse Tung's "Cultural Revolution".

20) 1970: Uganda established gun control. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians,
unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

21) 1990s: Rwanda established gun control. In a span of 100 days in April 1994, 800,000
people who were unable to defend themselves were massacred to death - most by
machetes. How many dead, hacked-up bodies do you think were found holding a loaded
gun? (answer is less than one)

22) 1992: Los Angeles California, USA. For three days police stood by and watched,
unable to stop the rioting, arson and destruction of whole neighborhoods. Yet many
Korean stores were virtually untouched - protected by their well-armed storeowners who
exercised their right to self-defense through their right to keep and bear arms and who
did for themselves what the police were unwilling or unable to do.

23) Late 1990s: Great Britain established total gun control. Robberies, burglaries and
assaults have skyrocketted making London's violent crime rate now higher than anywhere
in America.

24) "Every good communist should know that political power grows out of the barrel of a
gun." ~ Mao Tse Tung

25) "Ordinary citizens don't need guns, as their having guns doesn't serve the State." ~
Heinrich Himmler.
I Own Firearms Because It Is My God-Given Right To Self-Defense:

26) "If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no
guilt for his bloodshed." ~ Exodus 22:2

27) "...he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." ~ Luke 22:36

28) "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace." ~
Luke 11:21

29) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." ~ Declaration of Independance

I Own Firearms Because I Have Common Sense:

30) A gun-owner his far more likely to be killed in a car accident or by drowning in a
swimming pool or by physician mistakes than from owning a gun.

31) Criminals fear victims holding guns, not victims holding phones.

32) 2 million times a year, private citizens successfully use guns to defend themselves.
I Own Firearms Because There Are Those With Power Who, If Given The Chance,
Would Force Me To Relinquish Them:

33) "Banning guns addresses a fundamental right of Americans to feel safe." ~ Sen.
Diane Feinstein D-CA, quoted by AP, 11/18/93.

34) "We're going to hammer guns on the anvil of relentless legislative strategy! We're
going to beat guns into submission!" ~ Rep. Charles Schumer D-NY, quoted on NBC,
12/8/93

35) "For target shooting, that's okay. Get a license and go to the range. For defense of the
home, that's why we have police departments." ~ James Brady.

36) "The sale of guns must stop. Halfway measures are not enough." ~ Sarah Brady.

37) "Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of
private firearms is the goal." ~ Former Attorney General Janet Reno.

38) "The purpose of government is to rein in the rights of the people" ~ Former President
Bill Clinton, interview on MTV 1993

39) "I dont' care about crime. I just want to get the guns." ~ Former Senator Howard
Metzenbaum, D-OH during Brady Bill debates.

40) "If someone is so fearful that, that they're going to start using their weapons to protect
their rights, makes me very nervous that these people have these weapons at all!" ~ Rep.
Henry Waxman, D-NY, 5/2001 MSNBC report on .50BMG rifles.