Firearms regulation Quotes

“Rule of law”

“Gun violence”

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

“It is enough to ask somebody for his weapons without saying 'I want to kill you with them', because when you have his weapons in hand, you can satisfy your desire.”

“It is very difficult for the labouring people, who have been deceived and intimidated by the reactionary ruling classes for thousands of years, to awaken to the importance of having guns in their own hands... Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

“Logistic regression results indicate that regular viewers of crime shows are more likely to oppose gun control and believe that firearms prevent crime. Respondents who receive their primary crime news from the print media are more likely to disagree with making it easier to conceal firearms.”

“The media, the corporations, the politicians... have all done such a good job of scaring the American public, it's come to the point where they don't need to give any reason at all. I left the Heston estate atop Beverly Hills and walked back... to an America living and breathing in fear. Where gun sales are now at an all record high.”

““People were allowed to own guns, and everyone did own guns [in the West], for the most part,” says Winkler. “Having a firearm to protect yourself in the lawless wilderness from wild animals, hostile native tribes, and outlaws was a wise idea. But when you came into town, you had to either check your guns if you were a visitor or keep your guns at home if you were a resident.””

“Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn.”

“This country has no monopoly on troubled young men. We have no monopoly on hate groups. We aren’t the only place where people miss signs of danger in troubled young men. What distinguishes the United States from the developed world is our open market in the weaponry of war — in weapons whose chief purpose and selling point is their obscene ability to kill as many people as possible in the shortest burst of time.”

“The buffalo hunters and range men have protested against the iron rule of Dodge's peace officers, and nearly every protest has cost human life. … Most cowboys think it's an infringement on their rights to give up shooting in town, and if it is, it stands, for your six-shooters are no match for Winchesters and buckshot; and Dodge's officers are as game a set of men as ever faced danger.”

“Pratt, who declined to be interviewed for this piece, holds the power to derail and delay gun legislation enjoying broad public support, and quickly inject falsehoods and amplify paranoia among a growing network of gun activists. With the rise of the Tea Party scene, Pratt has discovered new constituencies and new platforms for spreading his message of a Biblically mandated rollback of all gun regulation.”

“Frontier towns with and without gun legislation were violent places, more violent than family-friendly farming communities and Eastern cities of the time, but those without restrictions tended to have worse violence. “I've never seen any rhetoric from that time period saying that the only thing that's going to reduce violence is more people with guns,” says Winkler. “It seems to be much more of a 20th-century attitude than one associated with the Wild West.””

“Bob Songer, the sheriff of Klickitat County (Washington State)... said.... “There is no way in hell I’m going to be going after their guns if they are honest citizens... What I’ve told people is: I’m not giving up my guns, and I don’t expect them to give up theirs.” The sheriff dismissed the pressure from the state’s attorney general to abide by the law. “They are not the boss of the sheriff... The only bosses I have are the voters of Klickitat County.””

“Sandy Hook happened 6 years ago and we can’t even get the Senate to hold a vote on universal background checks w/ #HR8. Christchurch happened, and within days New Zealand acted to get weapons of war out of the consumer market. This is what leadership looks like. (pointing to a tweet from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden: Today I am announcing that New Zealand will ban all military-style semi-automatic weapons.)”

“For mass media, insurance companies, Big Pharma, advocacy groups, lawyers, politicians and so many more, your fear is worth billions. And fortunately for them, your fear is also very easy to manipulate. We’re wired to respond to it above everything else. If we miss an opportunity for abundance, life goes on; if we miss an important fear cue, it doesn’t...
Add to this media landscape channels like Investigation Discovery, with its 24/7 stream of true-crime shows, and the spate of CSI and Law & Order-type police procedural dramas, and it’s easy to understand why, after voting, the next most prevalent ways Americans respond to fear, according to the Chapman study, are getting a home alarm and buying a gun.”

“Canadian: If more guns made people safer, then America would be one of the safest countries in the world. It isn't. It's the opposite.
Woman:Every time I turn on the TV in the States, it's always about a murder here, a gunfight, hostile position... I just think the States, their view of things is fighting. That's how they resolve everything. If there's... there's something going on in another country, they send people over to fight it and... They are the most powerful country in the world, though. Canada's more just, like, "Let's negotiate, let's work something out." Where the States is, "We'll kill you and that'll be the end of that."
If guns were... If more guns made people safer, then America would be one of the safest countries in the world. It isn't. It's the opposite.”

“The self-interest perspective, which posits that gun owners will oppose any policies that might threaten their ability to own firearms, has been extensively tested. Gun ownership and/or presence of a gun in the home are among the strongest and most consistent predictors of people's opposition to various gun control policies, especially any type of gun ownership ban (Brennan et al., 1993; Celinska, 2007; Dowler, 2002; Kleck, 1996; Kleck, Gertz, & Bratton, 2009; Semet & Ansolabehere, 2011; Wolpert & Gimpel, 1998). The self-protection/crime control perspective argues that people will support gun control if they believe that gun control policies will reduce crime, and they will oppose gun control if they perceive those policies to be ineffective or believe that widespread private ownership of firearms is a more effective way to fight crime (Robbers, 2005; Semet & Ansolabehere, 2011; Spitzer, 2011; Tyler & Lavrakas, 1983; Wolpert & Gimpel, 1998).”

“As states have approved dozens of restrictive gun control measures..., efforts to resist such laws have gathered strength around the nation.... In November, nearly 60 percent of Washington State voters approved an initiative prohibiting anyone under 21 from purchasing a semiautomatic rifle and requiring buyers to undergo enhanced background checks... The law also mandated a 10-day waiting period and completion of a firearms training course.
Already, though, more than a dozen sheriffs in Washington have said they will refuse to enforce the law. That has set up a showdown between them and Bob Ferguson, the attorney general... has warned the sheriffs that they have a legal responsibility to enforce the new law in the same manner they are sworn to uphold other laws prohibiting criminal activity...”

“Although there is a long empirical record exploring links between violent videogame play and aggression, little is known about how these games potentially affect players’ political attitudes. Specifically, with firearms frequently featured in videogames, including games where players are required to use firearms to succeed during gameplay, it is worth examining whether players’ experience with firearms relates to their attitudes toward guns and gun policy. Utilizing the General Learning Model, this survey explores whether public policy outcomes regarding gun control and public safety are related to exposure to violent video games, first-person shooter games, and realistic gun controllers. Results show that increased exposure to first-person shooter games was related to more negative attitudes concerning gun control. In addition, more experience using realistic gun controllers was associated with negative attitudes toward gun control and greater support for the idea that greater gun availability can help guarantee public safety. Thus, video game exposure may shape the gun attitudes of young people in small but important ways.”