On the issue of gun control, Thomas Jefferson actually didn't quite say what you probably think he said
I was doing some personal online research regarding issues of Constitutional liberty today, and I happened to stumble upon a particular piece of information about Thomas Jefferson's stance on gun control which I found quite surprising, and it has to do with this famous quote:
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"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms [...] only disarm 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 prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one."
~ Cesare Beccaria, "Essay on Crimes and Punishments"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Crimes_a...
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Notice the attribution of the above quote. That's right. It's attributed to Cesare Beccaria, not Thomas Jefferson. Although the statement is in fact contained in the writings of Thomas Jefferson, those who read the original documents will be surprised to learn that it is contained as a clearly cited quotation, and not as an original statement. To attribute the statement to Thomas Jefferson is therefore a misattribution. While Thomas Jefferson indicates in his writings that he essentially agrees with Cesare Beccaria, the statement is not his own.
From CNN:
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"Pause when you see photo memes of Jefferson saying "no" to gun control. Truth is, he wasn't the one who said this first.
For the gun rights advocates who love this line, the good news is that Jefferson did quote it from someone else. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation's website, Monticello.org, has an entire section featuring "spurious" quotations attributed to Jefferson, including this one. It's a passage from Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria's "Essay on Crimes and Punishments."
In the 18th century, before people tweeted everything, "people had notebooks where they wrote down anything they thought was important," explains Cornell. Jefferson was just quoting Beccaria.
Jefferson agreed that keeping guns out of people's hands only helped the bad guys, according to Cornell in his book "A Well-Regulated Militia."
But the phrase takes on different meaning when translated from the Italian, according to an article by Washington University law professor David Thomas Konig. Jefferson wasn't questioning the constitutionality of anti-carrying laws; he said they were impractical to uphold."
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/07/u...
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Up until today, I had been under the impression that Thomas Jefferson had actually said this, and I'm sure most of you thought so as well. The fact that he was actually quoting someone else in his writing is, I'm sure, a huge surprise to all of us. My mind has been officially blown.
–––––––––––––––––––
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms [...] only disarm 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 prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one."
~ Cesare Beccaria, "Essay on Crimes and Punishments"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Crimes_a...
–––––––––––––––––––
Notice the attribution of the above quote. That's right. It's attributed to Cesare Beccaria, not Thomas Jefferson. Although the statement is in fact contained in the writings of Thomas Jefferson, those who read the original documents will be surprised to learn that it is contained as a clearly cited quotation, and not as an original statement. To attribute the statement to Thomas Jefferson is therefore a misattribution. While Thomas Jefferson indicates in his writings that he essentially agrees with Cesare Beccaria, the statement is not his own.
From CNN:
–––––––––––––––––––
"Pause when you see photo memes of Jefferson saying "no" to gun control. Truth is, he wasn't the one who said this first.
For the gun rights advocates who love this line, the good news is that Jefferson did quote it from someone else. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation's website, Monticello.org, has an entire section featuring "spurious" quotations attributed to Jefferson, including this one. It's a passage from Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria's "Essay on Crimes and Punishments."
In the 18th century, before people tweeted everything, "people had notebooks where they wrote down anything they thought was important," explains Cornell. Jefferson was just quoting Beccaria.
Jefferson agreed that keeping guns out of people's hands only helped the bad guys, according to Cornell in his book "A Well-Regulated Militia."
But the phrase takes on different meaning when translated from the Italian, according to an article by Washington University law professor David Thomas Konig. Jefferson wasn't questioning the constitutionality of anti-carrying laws; he said they were impractical to uphold."
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/07/u...
–––––––––––––––––––
Up until today, I had been under the impression that Thomas Jefferson had actually said this, and I'm sure most of you thought so as well. The fact that he was actually quoting someone else in his writing is, I'm sure, a huge surprise to all of us. My mind has been officially blown.
I've never seen that quote attributed to Jefferson.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/...
"Give about two of them, every day, to exercise; for health must not be sacrificed to learning. A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."
I like that... "boldness, enterprise, and independence." Perhaps not uniquely, but certainly fundamentally American characteristics.
Maybe khalling et al should invite this Jefferson guy to the Gulch?
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Really? You must not be paying attention, then. I see it attributed to him all the time.