From: [gt 6190 a] at [prism.gatech.EDU] (Stephen Burr) Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns Subject: Quotable Quotes (Part 1) Date: 2 Jul 93 15:57:18 GMT Here's some quotes that I've had floating around in my file for a while. I'm breaking this up into two parts, for reasons that will become obvious. A few of these I don't have sources for, just the name of the person who made the quote. Anybody out there who has a source just let me know. "This is the first step" - U.S. Representative Edward Feighan, referring to the Brady Bill (which he introduced) at recent House hearings. "This is not all we will have in future Congresses, but this is a crack in the door. There are too many handguns in the hands of citizens. The right to keep and bear arms has nothing to do with the Brady Bill." - U.S. Representative Craig Washington, at the mark-up hearing on the Brady Bill, April 10, 1991. "Handguns should be outlawed. Our organization will probably take this stand in time but we are not anxious to rouse the opposition before we get the other legislation passed." - Elliot Corbett, Secretary, National Council For A Responsible Firearms Policy (interview appeared in the Washington Evening Star on September 19, 1969). "It is our aim to ban the manufacture and sale of handguns to private individuals. . .the coalition's emphasis is to keep handguns out of private possession -- where they do the most harm." - Recruiting flyer currently distributed by The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, formerly called The National Coalition to Ban Handguns. "Yes, I'm for an outright ban (on handguns)." -- Pete Shields, Chairman emeritus, Handgun Control, Inc., during a 60 Minutes interview. "We are at the point in time and terror where nothing short of a strong uniform policy of domestic disarmament will alleviate the danger which is crystal clear and perilously present. Let us take the guns away from the people. Exemptions should be limited to the military, the police, and those licensed for good and sufficient reasons. And I would look forward to the day when it would not be necessary for the policeman to carry a sidearm." -- Patrick V. Murphy, former New York City Police Commissioner, and now a member of Handgun Control's National Committee, during testimony to the National Association of Citizens Crime Commissions. "My experience as a street cop suggests that most merchants should not have guns. But I feel even stronger about the average person having them...most homeowners...simply have no need to own guns." -- Joseph McNamara, HCI spokesman, and former Chief of Police of San Jose, California. "I don't want to go for confiscation, but that is where we are going." -- Daryl Gates, Police Chief of Los Angeles, California. "There may be other things that will happen later... It may not be the end... the bottom line is what we are seeking now is the Brady Bill." -- U.S. Representative Charles Schumer, interviewed on CNN Crossfire. "The Brady Bill is the minimum step Congress should take...we need much stricter gun control, and eventually should bar the ownership of handguns, except in a few cases." -- U.S. Representative William Clay, quoted in the St. Louis Post Dispatch on May 6, 1991. "It's only the first step, it's not going to be enough...we've got to go beyond that, and I hope we'll do it this session of Congress." -- U.S. Representative Edward Feighan during an interview on ABC News Nightline. "We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily -- given the political realities -- going to be very modest ... So then we'll have to start working again to strengthen the law, and then again to strengthen the next law, and maybe again and again. Right now, though, we'd be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal -- total control of handguns in the United States -- is going to take time .... The first problem is to slow down the increasing number of guns being produced and sold in this country. The second problem is to get handguns registered. And 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." -- Pete Shields, Chairman Emeritus, Handgun Control, Inc. ("The New Yorker", July 26, 1976) "No, we're not looking at how to control criminals ... we're talking about banning the AK-47 and semi-automatic guns." -- Sen. Howard Metzenbaum "I'm not interested in getting a bill that deals with airport security... all I want to do is get at plastic guns." -- Sen. Howard Metzenbaum "You know the one thing that's wrong with this country? Everyone gets a chance to have their fair say." -- Bill Clinton (May 29, 1993) -- Stephen Burr | "Didn't you wonder why you kept getting checks Georgia Tech, | for doing absolutely nothing?" - Bart Simpson Atlanta Georgia, 30332 | "I thought it was because the Democrats were [gt 6190 a] at [prism.gatech.edu] | back in power again." - Grandpa Simpson === These have been added by me, Jerry Stratton, [j--r--y] at [teetot.acusd.edu.] They have not generally been researched by me, but pulled off the net. "So my contention is that whenever a people come to the conclusion that the government which they have supported proves itself unwilling or proves itself unable to protect our lives and protect our property because we have the wrong color skin, we are not human beings unless we ourselves band together and do whatever, however, whenever is necessary to see that our lives and our property is protected." --- Malcolm X 1964-12-03 I never heard of this quote until someone posted it last year. Or of the following one before 1990. "I know something of the history of this legislation [prohibiting the concealed carry of firearms]. The original Act of 1893 was passed when there was a great influx of negro laborers in this State drawn here for the purpose of working in the turpentine and lumber camps. The same condition existed when the Act was amended in 1901 and the Act was passed for the purpose of disarming the negro laborers and to thereby reduce the unlawful homicides that were prevalent in turpentine and saw-mill camps and to give the white citizens in sparsely settled areas a better feeling of security. The statute was never intended to be applied to the white population and in practice has never been so applied." - Justice Buford, Florida Supreme Court, in Watson v. Stone, 4 So.2d 700, 703 (Fla. 1941), quoted in Cottrol and Diamond, 355.