Historical Quotes

This week’s historical quote comes from relatively recent times. It is by Mickey Kaus who is a journalist and pundit writing for The Daily Caller. In 2010, he was also a Democratic candidate for the US Senate from California opposing Barbara Boxer (D-Ca).

“[I]f liberals interpreted the Second Amendment the way they interpreted the rest of the Bill of Rights, there would be law professors arguing that gun ownership is mandatory.”

Kaus, Mickey, qtd. in Kinsley, Michael. “Slicing Up The Second Amendment.” The Washington Post 8 Feb. 1990: A25. Print.

This quote is found on page 43 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

This week’s historical quote from Proclaiming Liberty is by Manly C. Beebe who was a delegate to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention of 1872 and 1873.

“Thieves and murderers never would and never do regard any law of this kind, and the revolver under such circumstances is the best conservator of the public peace in the hands of law-abiding men. No man desires to be in the position of being assailed by a lot of drunken bullies who are reckless of anything they may do unless restrained by fear.”

Beebe, Manly C. Remarks on 25 Sept. 1873 in Pennsylvania’s constitutional convention, qtd. in Debates of the Convention to Amend the Constitution of Pennsylvania. Ed. unknown. Harrisburg, PA: Benjamin Singerly State Printer, 1873. 259. Print.

This quote is found on page 20 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

Given the lip service that politicians on both the right and the left pay to the Second Amendment, I thought this week’s quote from Proclaiming Liberty was particularly apt.

Every time an advocate of gun control promises not to impair the recreational activities of hunters, he demonstrates his contempt for the values underlying the Second Amendment, implying that the issues at stake are trivial.

Sullum, Jacob. “Shooting Gallery.” Reason Dec. 1995: 50-55. Print.

This quote is found on page 60 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

The historical quote of the week from Proclaiming Liberty comes Henry Campbell Black. He was the founder of Black’s Law Dictionary which is considered the definitive law dictionary.

The second amendment to the federal constitution, as well as the constitutions of many of the states, guaranty to the people the right to bear arms. This is a natural right, not created or granted by the constitutions.

  Black, Henry Campbell. Handbook of American Constitutional Law. 3rd. Ed. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1910. 543 Print.

This quote is found on page 52 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

Continuing on the theme of thought that influenced the Founding Fathers and the framers of the Constitution, this week’s historical quote courtesy of Proclaiming Liberty comes from Andrew Fletcher.

The possession of arms is the distinction of a freeman from a slave. He who has nothing, and belongs to another, must be defended by him, and needs no arms: but he who thinks his is his own master, and has anything he may call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself and what he possesses, or else live precariously and at discretion.

Fletcher, Andrew. Speeches by a Member of Parliament. Edinburgh, 1703. 43. Print

This quote is found on page 28 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

After reading and reviewing the new book Proclaiming Liberty, I approached Philip Mulivor about doing a Historical Quote of the Week from quotes within the book. He, like I, thought it was an excellent idea.

So herewith is the first of a new weekly feature.

Both [oligarch and tyrant] mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.

Aristotle. Aristotles’ Politics. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1916. 218. Print.

I went with Aristotle as the first because of his influence on both political thought throughout time and on the Founding Fathers.

Proclaiming Liberty is available through Amazon.com.