| Thomas Jefferson, of
Virginia:
"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." --
Jefferson's "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and
Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764
|