Wendy E. Long Quotes

The National Rifle Association was Founded by men who were distressed that young men from the cities were so unskilled with firearms when the served in the Civil War that they thought that there should be an organization devoted to teaching the skilled use of firearms in case of another war. Frederick, the President, was himself a skilled marksman having won several of the shooting events in the Olympics. The officers and the organization in the early days and received free ammunition from the Federal Government with which to train and certify young men in shooting accuracy. The organization, alarmed at the high rage of gun accidents causing death and serious injury added gun safety to their program and this was followed by teaching and certifying Hunting Safety as well. Their vision was that marksmanship and safety through their courses and programs would be implemented by schools, camps, scouts, clubs and other intermediary organizations which were certified by the NRA.

This quotation is often provided by historians studying the gun culture of America. Even conservatives like Ames did not see a gun or an armed citizenry as important to America’s survival or well being. Contrary to popular belief, even the State Militias’ whose rights to bear arms was written into the Second Amendment did not bother to do so. In 1803 only three state militias had rifle companies. Firearms of the time were expensive, difficult to maintain, and hard to use. Unless one needed them for defense, it was too much of a bother. Even in the aftermath of the War of 1812 only 30% of Massachusetts adult men owned guns; by 1839, the rate was below 10%. It was on the frontier where guns were popular and necessary. See {613080}.

This is historically a very important quotation. It shows that gun control was existant in Colonial America. The violation of the gun laws were so serious that the Connecticut Council itself heard and tried the case and it was not even handled by the constable. On the same day, they also fined Bartholomew Barnardt for allowing his son to shoot a militia musket in his possession. Today, most states would not be allowed much gun control as politically there is a belief that in Colonial America gun use and ownership was almost universal. That assertion appears to be untrue. See {613056} and {613057}.

The great cowboy gunslinger was much a myth in that the few that were very good shots became legends. The best shots in America generally were the hunters of small game like Annie Oakley and the military and sportsmen who studied the gun and practiced endlessly. Almost all were in the Midwest and East. In the case of Oakley, she learned to shoot small game for food in rural Ohio. Her first shooting contest was not on the frontier but in the big city of Cincinnati.

The gun control debate has been so polarizing over the years, that the extremists on each side actually consider the other side as doing great damage to the society if not causing death of innocent people.

There were very few people who believed that a pistol would have no defensive value then and there are very few today. The advocates of gun control grant its defensive value, but argue that the rise of using a gun is greater than the benefit of the use. Add to that the deaths from suicides and gun accidents which kill more Americans than those who are shot and killed intentionally.

Although written by a science fiction writer, this is one of the best quotations arguing for widespread gun ownership.

Gunsmiths were few in early America and a skilled gunsmith could only make about 3 per month. As a result guns in early America were a luxury and few Americans orned them. This is contrary to the myth that the early Americans were all gun owners and sharpshooters.