Letter to the Editor: Wise men
BY Tom Lottinville, Sand Springs
Saturday, January 05, 2013
1/05/13 at 8:24 AM
A recent contributor who wrote supporting gun control was critical of our Founding Fathers and stated that they were not gods. Certainly they were not gods, but they were very wise men with much practical experience. They had logical reasons for supporting the Second Amendment. Here are their own words:
"Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. From the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good." - George Washington, first president of the United States.
"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." - George Mason, co-author of the Second Amendment, during Virginia's Convention to ratify the Constitution, 1788.
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms 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, quoting 18th-century criminologist Cesare Beccaria in "On Crimes and Punishment" (1764).
It is good to understand the reasoning behind a legal statement before judging its merits.
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