"No State shall convert a liberty into a privilege, license it, and charge a fee therefor."
Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 US 105
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004)
"There is an old saying. There are only 2 times when you have too much ammo.
1. When you are drowning
2. When you are on fire
"If the State converts a right (liberty) into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right (liberty) with impunity."
Shuttleworth v. City of Birmingham Alabama, 373 US 262
"An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as though it had never been passed."
Norton v. Shelby County, 118 US 425
"It's not always being fast or even accurate that counts, it's being willing. I found out early that most men, regardless of cause or need, aren't willing. They blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull the trigger-and I won't."
spoken by John Wayne's character, J.B. Books, in his last film, The Shootist
"When we teach our children that personal accountability doesn't matter, self-fulfillment is the goal and that the only person fit to judge you is yourself we allow and condone all sorts of anti-social and evil behavior. That coupled with over-medication, a lack of a moral compass replaced by moral relativity and the absence of God is obviously going to render undesirable results."
"Stevil" on the USRange.org
"After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it."
William Burroughs
"Today's liberals wish to disarm us so they can run their evil and oppressive agenda on us. The fight against crime is just a convenient excuse to further their agenda. I don't know about you, but if you hear that Williams' guns have been taken, you'll know Williams is dead."
Walter Williams, Professor of Economics, George Mason University.
"If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government --and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws."
Edward Abbey
"One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that 'violence begets violence.' I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure (and in some cases I have) that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy."
Jeff Cooper, "Cooper vs. Terrorism", Guns & Ammo Annual, 1975
"It is the duty of the courts to be watchful for the Constitutional rights of the citizen and against any stealthy encroachments thereon."
- Boyd vs. United States, 116 US 616
"The claim and exercise of a Constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime." - Miller v. U.S. 230 F 2nd 486, 489.
"Constitutional Rights cannot be denied simply because of hostility to their assertions and exercise; vindication of conceded Constitutional Rights cannot be made dependent upon any theory that it is less expensive to deny them than to afford them."
- Watson vs. Memphis, 375 US 526
"The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed -- where the government refuses to stand for re-election and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once."
Justice Alex Kozinski, US 9th Circuit Court, 2003 ( minority dissent in which the majority has "lost the courage to oppose")
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it."
Col. Jeff Cooper
"The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."
John F. Kennedy
"The police of a state should never be stronger or better armed than the citizenry. An armed citizenry, willing to fight, is the foundation of civil freedom."
"Beyond This Horizon" by Robert Heinlein, 1942
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting that vote."
Benjamin Franklin
"The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
Samuel Adams, Massachusetts’ U.S. Constitution ratification convention in 1788
Interesting Quotes for Thinking People
Moderator: carlson1
Those are good. I'll return to this when it's time to go back to school. I keep quotes around my desk for students to ponder while I'm checking something.
"If a man breaks in your house, he ain't there for iced tea." Mom & Dad.
The NRA & TSRA are a bargain; they're much cheaper than the cold, dead hands experience.
The NRA & TSRA are a bargain; they're much cheaper than the cold, dead hands experience.
Just a Few
It is the mark of a true individual to prepare for the improbable. It is the mark of the complacent multitudes to believe that they are exempt from the unthinkable.
*
Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level, and then beat you with experience.
*
Hope is not merely an invention of a grasping soul. Hope is alive in all that can still reflect its never-ending glory. Hope is in a summer’s breeze. It thrives in what you can see and feel and even in that which you cannot. Hope is a boundless wonder that drives a failing heart. Hope gives reason to enjoy beauty and cherish laughter. Hope gives reason to live when none should be granted. Hope is the work of a greater being.
*
People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.
*
Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.
*
Life is not easy, and life is not fair. But life will be good to you if you make the right choices.
*
“The end of education is to know God and the laws and purposes of the universe, and to reconcile one’s life to these laws. The first aim of a good college is not to teach books, but the meaning and purpose of life. Hard study and the learning of books are only a means to this end. We develop power and courage and determination and we go out to achieve Truth, Wisdom and Justice. If we do not come to this, the cost of schooling is wasted.� John B. Watson - First President of Arkansas AM&N College
*
Violence…naked force…has settled more issues in history than any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.
*
To every man there comes in his life that special moment… when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered that chance to do a very special thing. Unique to him, and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for that work. Winston Churchill
*
If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success. If you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.
*
Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.
*
Of course the 1911 is an outdated design.
It came from an era when weapons were designed to win fights, not to avoid product liability lawsuits. It came from an era where it was the norm to learn how your weapon operated and to practice that operation until it became second nature, not to design the piece to the lowest common denominator.
It came from an era in which our country tried to supply its fighting men with the best tools possible, unlike today, when our fighting men and women are issued hardware that was adopted because of international deal-making, or the fact that the factory is in some well-connected congressman's district.
Yes, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the 1911 IS an outdated design.... and that's exactly what I love about it.
*
This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something you have left behind…let it be something good.
*
God grant me the serenity to avoid the confrontation,
The strength and skill to prevail if I cannot,
The wisdom to know when I will not,
And receive me into Your ever loving Grace if I do not.
*
Experience has no roll books nor proxies. She demands that her pupils answer her roll-call personally.
*
The only people you should try to get even with are those that have helped you.
*
Winning is a reflex action. If you’ve been there in your mind, you’ll go there in your body.
*
We always have time for the things that we put first.
*
Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level, and then beat you with experience.
*
Hope is not merely an invention of a grasping soul. Hope is alive in all that can still reflect its never-ending glory. Hope is in a summer’s breeze. It thrives in what you can see and feel and even in that which you cannot. Hope is a boundless wonder that drives a failing heart. Hope gives reason to enjoy beauty and cherish laughter. Hope gives reason to live when none should be granted. Hope is the work of a greater being.
*
People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.
*
Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.
*
Life is not easy, and life is not fair. But life will be good to you if you make the right choices.
*
“The end of education is to know God and the laws and purposes of the universe, and to reconcile one’s life to these laws. The first aim of a good college is not to teach books, but the meaning and purpose of life. Hard study and the learning of books are only a means to this end. We develop power and courage and determination and we go out to achieve Truth, Wisdom and Justice. If we do not come to this, the cost of schooling is wasted.� John B. Watson - First President of Arkansas AM&N College
*
Violence…naked force…has settled more issues in history than any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.
*
To every man there comes in his life that special moment… when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered that chance to do a very special thing. Unique to him, and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for that work. Winston Churchill
*
If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success. If you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.
*
Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.
*
Of course the 1911 is an outdated design.
It came from an era when weapons were designed to win fights, not to avoid product liability lawsuits. It came from an era where it was the norm to learn how your weapon operated and to practice that operation until it became second nature, not to design the piece to the lowest common denominator.
It came from an era in which our country tried to supply its fighting men with the best tools possible, unlike today, when our fighting men and women are issued hardware that was adopted because of international deal-making, or the fact that the factory is in some well-connected congressman's district.
Yes, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the 1911 IS an outdated design.... and that's exactly what I love about it.
*
This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something you have left behind…let it be something good.
*
God grant me the serenity to avoid the confrontation,
The strength and skill to prevail if I cannot,
The wisdom to know when I will not,
And receive me into Your ever loving Grace if I do not.
*
Experience has no roll books nor proxies. She demands that her pupils answer her roll-call personally.
*
The only people you should try to get even with are those that have helped you.
*
Winning is a reflex action. If you’ve been there in your mind, you’ll go there in your body.
*
We always have time for the things that we put first.
"There is a pleasure in being mad, which none but madmen know".