Talk:Those who hammer their guns into plows

From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

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I think whoever created the entry regarding a quotation possibly mistakenly attributed to Mr. Jefferson may have added a bit too much of their personal editorial to the entry. They imply that Jefferson was in fact all for hammering their arms into plowshares and living in some passive agrarian utopia. These qutoes disagree with any such assumption of not being armed and ready and he seems to view it as not only a right but a duty of members of a free society to have arms in the home.

The Right to Bear Arms

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives 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." --Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1785. ME 5:85, Papers 8:407

"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed." --Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright, 1824. ME 16:45

"One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them." --Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1796. ME 9:341

"I learn with great concern that [one] portion of our frontier so interesting, so important, and so exposed, should be so entirely unprovided with common fire-arms. I did not suppose any part of the United States so destitute of what is considered as among the first necessaries of a farm-house." --Thomas Jefferson to Jacob J. Brown, 1808. ME 11:432

"No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms (within his own lands or tenements)." --Thomas Jefferson: Draft Virginia Constitution (with his note added), 1776. Papers 1:353

"None but an armed nation can dispense with a standing army. To keep ours armed and disciplined is therefore at all times important." --Thomas Jefferson to -----, 1803. ME 10:365

Thank you for your comments. You are correct that Jefferson was not against the right to bear arms. However, the quotation I included (Jefferson to John Jay) and my accompanying comment are not meant to speak to Jefferson's views on firearms, but rather give evidence of his opinion on the relative merit of farming as an occupation. The quotation in question ("Those who hammer their guns into plows") implies a negative result to giving up a military career for a life of farming, or exchanging weapons for the tools of a farmer. In Jefferson's letter to John Jay, he expresses his admiration of farming and farmers, and says that he would not like to see them exchange it for a different occupation. Therefore, given Jefferson's well-known views on farmers, it seems unlikely that he would express reservations about the advisability of turning to farming as an occupation. I will try to make this more clear in the main article. --ABerkes 10:38, 20 February 2008 (EST)

Aberkes, the important point is that your discussion and quote completely miss the obvious intent of the (spurious) quote. As the above-quoted comment to Jacob J. Brown demonstrates, Jefferson felt that a firearm was an important farm implement. Your comment does nothing to prove the unlikeliness that Jefferson spoke those words; it only serves to indicate that your feelings about guns are so emotional that you would imagine that the quote had the implication you infer. Balfson 07:40, 21 May 2008 (EDT)

The intent in including the Jay letter was to help clarify the answer to the essential question, "did Thomas Jefferson write this quotation?" It seems that it is having quite a different effect, so I've changed this page to conform to our new format for debunking spurious quotations. I hope it is more helpful to people. --ABerkes 14:35, 15 October 2008 (EDT)