John Hancock Quotes
Every People should have, within themselves, all the Means of Self Defense.
He was writing as the President of the Continental Congress. This quotation is often used by gun control opponents to illustrate that the Founding Fathers intended men to bear arms. The issue has been complicated by whether this right was intended as an individual right or a collective right. The Supreme Court has ruled the latter. There is a right of the State Militia to bear arms and not be disarmed by a Federal Government. There is no right for an individual to bear arms. This quotation could be interpreted both ways.
John Hancock, 1737-1793, President of the Second Continental Congress, Governor of Massachusetts, First Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Letter to the Colonies, June 7, 1776
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Earlier in the Arab-Israeli conflict United Nations troops were stationed at the borders to prevent either side from attacking the other. The Arabs mounted a major attack and the United Nations troops ran and did not fight. Ever since then, Israel policy was never to depend on any other than Israel to defend the country and the people.
It emasculated people to be protected in this way... [They should] be used to protecting themselves.
Commenting on the efforts of the government to regulate working conditions:
John Hancock was an American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term "John Hancock" or "Hancock" has become a synonym in the United States for one's signature.
