MARK TWAIN:
Never handle firea
rms carelessly. The
sorrow and suffering th
at have been caused thro
ugh the innocent but heedles
s handling of firearms by the yo
ung! Only four days ago, right in the
next farm house to the one where I am spending
the summer, a grandmother, old and gray and swee
t, one of the loveliest spirits in the land, was si tting at her
work, when her young grandson crept in and got do wn an old, ba ttered,
rusty gun which had not been touched for many years and was suppos ed not
to be loaded, and pointed it at her, laughing and threaten ing to shoot. In he r frigh
t she ran screaming and pleading toward the door on the othe r side of the room ; but as
she passed him he placed the gun almost against her very breast and pulled the trigger ! He had su
pposed it was not loaded. And he was right—it wasn’t. So there wasn’t any harm done. It is the only cas
e of that kind I ever heard of. Therefore, just the same, don’t you meddle with old unloaded firearms
; they are the most deadly and unerring hings that have ever been created by man. You don’t have to ta
ke any pains at all with them; you don’t have to have a rest, you don’t have to have any sights on the gun
, you don’t have to take aim, even. No, you just pick out a relative and bang away, and you are sure to get
him. A youth who can’t hit a cathedral at thirty yards with a Gatling gun in three quarters of an hour, can
take up an old empty musket and bag his grandmother every time, at a hundred. Think what Waterloo would
have been if one of the armies had been boys armed with old muskets supposed not to be loaded, and the ot
her army had been composed of their female relations. The very thought of it make one shudder. THEODORE
ROOSEVELT: The man who would handle firearms lightly is a man of small sense; the firearm is an instrumen
t th at demands respect. In hunting or in defense, the gun requires steadiness of hand, clearness of eye, and
sobriety of mind. Only the man who can govern himself may hope to govern the instrument. The ca
reless handling of a gun leads often to loss of life, sometimes to a loss of character, for the cowa
rd who fears responsibility or the boaster who courts it indiscriminately alike bring sham
e upon themselves and danger to others. There is, indeed, a certain glory in the mast
ery of the weapon—but it is glory tempered by prudence. The same rifle that sec
ures food in the forest may also bring destruction to the heedless or the ignor
ant; the same revolver that ensures a man’s safety may, in foolish hands, de
stroy a home. It is the mark of a man’s education, both moral and practic
al, that he understands this dual nature. THOMAS JEFFERSON: No free
man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. Besides the advantage of
being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almo
st every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments,
to which the people are attached, and their having the will and
means to resist the operations of a standing army, are a power
ful check upon the enterprises of ambition. SQUEAKY FROMM
E: There is a gun pointed, and whether it goes off is up to
you all. GERALD FORD: The record of gun control…does no
t show that the registration of a gun, handgun, or the re
gistration of the gun owner…has in any way…decreased
the crime rate or the use of that gun in the committing
of a crime. … What we have to do … is to make it very, ve
ry difficul t for a person who uses a gun in the com
mission of a crime to stay out of jail. I don’t be
lieve in the registration of handguns or th
e regi stration of the handgun owner. An
other major threat to every American’s
person and property is the criminal carry
ing a ha ndgun. The way to cut down on th
e crimin al use of guns is not to take guns
away fro m the law-abiding citizen, but to im
pose mand atory sentences for crimes in which
a gun is used. JOHN WILKES BOOTH (and Virginia
State Motto): Sic semper tyrannis! MARK TWAIN:
Never handle firearms carelessly. The sorrow
and suffering that have been caused
through the innocent but heedless ha
ndling of firearms by the young! Onl
y four days ago, right in the next
farm house to the one where I am
spending the summer, a grandmo
ther, old and gray and sweet, on
e of the loveliest spirits in the la
nd, was sitting at her work, whe
n her young grandson crept in an
d got down an old, battered, rust
y gun which had not been touch
ed for many years and was suppos
ed not to be loaded, and pointed it
at her, laughing and threatening
to shoot. In her fright she ran scre
aming and pleading toward the do
or on the other side of the room; bu
t as she passed him he placed the
gun almost against her very breas
t and pulled the trigger! He had su
pposed it was not loaded. And he
was right—it wasn’t. So there was
n’t any harm done. It is the only ca
se of that kind I ever heard of. Th
erefore, just the same, don’t you
meddle with old unloaded firea
rms; they are the most deadly an
d unerring hings that have ever
been created by man. You don’t
have to take any pains at all wi
th them; you don’t have to have
a rest, you don’t have to have an
y sights on the gun, you don’t ha
ve to take aim, even. No, you jus
t pick out a relative and bang aw
ay, and you are sure to get him.
A youth who can’t hit a cathedr
al at thirty yards with a Gatling
gun in three quarters of an hou
r, can take up an old empty mus
ket and bag his grandmother eve
ry time, at a hundred. Think wha
t Waterloo would have been if on
e of the armies had been boys ar
med with old muskets su