BRITISH MAJOR JOHN PITCAIRN (Commander of Advance Guard of British forces marching to Concord, MA)

"Disperse you rebels; damn you, throw down your arms and disperse." (order to American militiamen at Lexington, 1775)

BILL CLINTON (42nd President of the United States): "We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans to legitimately own handguns and rifles...that we are unable to think about reality." (USA Today, 11 March 93, pg. 2A)

Reply: "The last time I checked, the Constitution said ‘of the people, by the people and for the people.’ That’s what the Declaration of Independence says." Reuters News Agency

Editors note: actually those words are in neither of those documents, but part of The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.

Clinton, again:

"I don’t think the American people are there right now. But with more than 200 million guns in circulation, we’ve got so much more to do on this issue before we even reach that. I don’t think that’s an option now. But there are certain kinds of guns that can be banned and a lot of other reasonable regulations that can be imposed."  (When asked of the possibility of a federal law banning handguns, interview in Rolling Stone magazine, 9 Dec 93, pg. 45)

"We’ve banned these guns [‘assault’ weapons] because you don’t need an Uzi to go deer hunting, and everyone knows it." (Weekly radio address, 15 Nov 97, the Roosevelt Room, the White House)

RONNIE EDLEMAN (Department of Justice, Clinton Administration): "The current state of federal law does not recognize that the Second Amendment protects the right of private citizens to possess firearms of any type. Instead, the Second Amendment is deemed to be a collective right belonging to the state and not to an individual. Accordingly, the Second Amendment is interpreted by this administration as prohibiting the federal government from preventing a state government from forming or having a state recognized militia force. With this understanding in mind, the source of citizens’ authority to possess a handgun has never been particularly identified in American law." In a letter written on behalf of President Clinton

JANET RENO (U.S. Attorney General) "Gun registration is not enough." (Associated Press 10 Dec 93): " I’ve always proposed state licensing...with some federal standards." (ABC’s "Good Morning America" 10 Dec 93).

Reno, again: "[Assault weapons] are used on school yards, at airports, in bank lobbies, on trains, in traffic and in front of the White House. They have no legitimate sporting purpose, and you won’t find them in a duck blind or at the Olympics." (The Washington TimesThe Washington Times, 22 March 96, A4)

JOYCELYN ELDERS (U.S. Surgeon General) ...on gun ownership: "I want to make it as hard as possible. Gun owners would have to be evaluated by how they scored on written and firing tests, and have to pass the tests in order to own a gun. And I would tax the guns, bullets and the license itself very heavily." (Mother Jones magazine, Jan/Feb ‘94)

FIDEL CASTRO: "Armas para que?" ("Guns, for what?") (Response to a Cuban citizens who said the people might need to keep their guns, after Castro announced strict gun control in Cuba)

MAJOR OWENS (U.S. Congressman): "My bill...establishes a 6-month grace period for the turning in of handguns." (Congressional Record 10 Nov 93).

Owens, again: "The second article of amendment (Second Amendment) to the Constitution of the United States is repealed." (U.S. House Joint Resolution 438 introduced 11 March 1992 by Congressman Owens, D-NY)

DIANE FEINSTEIN (California Senator, author of "Feinstein Amendment" which became the ’94 gun ban): "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them… ‘Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in,’ I would have done it." (60 Minutes episode, CBS) [Sen Feinstein holds a CCP]

DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN (U.S. Senator) "...we could tax them [firearms] out of existence." (Washington Post 4 Nov 93)

MEL REYNOLDS (U.S. Congressman) "If it were up to me we’d ban them all [firearms]." (CNN Crossfire 9 Dec 93)

NELSON T. (PETE) SHIELDS III (Founder, Handgun Control, Inc./National Council to Control Handguns) "We’re going to have to take this one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily - given the political realities - going to be very modest. Right now, though, we’d be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal - total control of all guns - is going to take time.....The final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition - except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs and licensed gun collectors - totally illegal." (New Yorker Magazine, p.57-58, 26 Jul 76)

SARAH BRADY (Chairman, Handgun Control, Inc.) "There is no personal right to be armed for private purposes unrelated to the service in a well regulated militia." (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 6 June 97, pg. 6)

Brady, again: "We have a tremendous opportunity to take a giant leap forward in our fight to require gun licensing in this country…." (HCI fund-raising letter, Oct 97, speaking of Initiative 676 in WA)

JOSH SUGARMANN (Executive Director, Violence Policy Center; former Communications Director of the National Coalition to Ban Handguns): "To end the crisis [gun violence], we have to regulate- or, in the case of handguns and assault weapons, completely ban- the product…. We are far past the where registration, licensing, safety training, background checks, or waiting periods will have much effect on firearms violence." Mother Jones Magazine, Jan/Feb 94, article titled "Reverse Fire"

Sugarmann, again: "…the semiautomatic weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion ..[that] anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun – can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons (1988 memo)

DR. ARTHUR KELLERMAN (Published 1986 "study" discouraging people from using guns for self defense): "If you’ve got to resist [an attacker], your chances of being hurt are less the more lethal your weapon. If that were my wife, would I want her to have a .38 Special in her hand? Yeah." (Health magazine, Mar/Apr 94 )

WILLIAM GREIDER (writer, Rolling Stone magazine): "The plain fact is that the United States is now hostage to a harrowing epidemic of gun violence, and the Brady bill won’t do much to change that. The National Rifle Association has been saying this all along, and the NRA is right….The NRA has also argued that a waiting period won’t prevent criminals from getting guns. And it’s right about that, too….Enactment of the Brady bill will, however, represent a victory of some political significance - a visible defeat for the tenacious lobbying power of the NRA….Thus the limited scope of the Brady bill was justified as a necessary first step toward breaking the NRA’s power - a way to demonstrate that politicians could support a moderate version of control and survive." (Rolling Stone, article entitled: "A Pistol-whipped Nation - Pass the Brady Bill - then ban handguns", 30 Sep 93, pg. 31)

CHARLES MORGAN (Director, American Civil Liberties Union, Washington, D.C. office): "I have not one doubt, even if I am in agreement with the National Rifle Association, that that kind of record keeping procedure (gun registration) is the first step to eventual confiscation under one administration or another" (in a 1975 hearing before the House Subcommittee on Crime)

CARL ROWAN (Washington, DC Syndicated Columnist): "We must reverse this psychology (of needing guns for home defense). We can do it by passing a law that says anyone found in possession of a handgun except a legitimate officer of the law goes to jail- period! (1981 article)

Rowan, again: "…as long as authorities leave this society awash in drugs and guns, I will protect my family." (1988 article titled "At Least They’re Not Writing My Obituary", after shooting an unarmed trespasser with an unregistered handgun)

DR. JOYCE BROTHERS (Psychiatrist, TV personality): "Men possess handguns in order to compensate for sexual dysfunction." [her husband is among NYC elite that has been issued a permit to carry a concealed handgun]

MIKE SEELY (Spokesman for Washington Citizens for Handgun Safety, gun control lobby group pushing I-676, a gun licensing law): "Their movement (2nd Amendment supporters) is so well grounded in the Constitution, it’s 200 years old. Our movement is probably 20 years from reaching its peak." (Reuters)

Seely, again: "Maybe we brought out the extremist vote with this one." (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA 6 Nov 97, after their ballot measure requiring gun licenses was defeated 71% - 29%)

NAZI LAW (Regulations Against Jews’ Possession of Weapons, 11 Nov 1938, German Minister of the Interior): "Those now possessing weapons and ammunition are at once to turn them over to the local police authority. Firearms and ammunition found in a Jew’s possession will be forfeited to the government without compensation.…Whoever willfully or negligently violates the provisions …will be punished with imprisonment and a fine.