The Virginia Gun Rights Rally and (Sigh) a Fake Founding Fathers Quotation. Why Don't Conservatives Learn History?

The recent gun rally in Richmond, Virginia was much in the news, and ended peacefully. Anti-gun groups stayed away. Speeches and statements were issued. Still, once again, a conservative politician popped up with a fake Founding Fathers quotation. What else is new?

Too many conservatives love to invent and spread fake quotations. Conservative rhetoric seeks to tie us to the familiar, comfortable past. American conservatives admire the nation’s Founders like demigods, like founts of wisdom: a wisdom that guided the United States’ to greatness. Unfortunately, however, the Founders were not, for the most part, a collection of right-wing fruitcakes. Conservatives could, of course, deal with this dilemma by moderating their views. Since they find that unthinkable, they instead tell falsehoods about our Founding Fathers. Problem solved, I guess.

Thomas Jefferson, Library of Congress

So, Virginia State Senator Bill Stanley issued a statement about the rally that said this:

“Thomas Jefferson once said that the strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. Here at the Capitol today, we had tens of thousands of citizens from across the Commonwealth of Virginia and some even from out-of-state, in response to the liberal left’s gun control agenda.” (italics added)

Stanley is wrong. Thomas Jefferson said nothing of the kind. Anna Berkes of the Jefferson Library in Monticello writes: “This quotation has not been found in any of the writings of Thomas Jefferson.” She studied several collections of Jefferson’s writings to be sure. In fact, the fake Jefferson quotation that “the strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government” first appeared in the late 20th century, more than 160 years after the Sage of Monticello passed into eternity. Right-wingers have been repeating it ever since.

Continuing with a tad of paranoia, Stanley's statement said: “Therefore, it is clear to the actual majority of Virginians that the proposed ‘commonsense’ gun legislation is just a cover by the liberal left to confiscate guns, limit our freedoms, and create a tyranny from our democracy.” Clever, plus the meticulous redundancy of “liberal” and “left,” just to make sure we understand his outrage.

Why do fake quotations like this circulate so much? Why do people believe them? And what is their persuasive purpose?

First, fake quotations circulate because people are careless and uninformed. Senator Stanley is a lawyer who graduated from very good colleges. There is no excuse for the fact that he did not check his research.

Second, quotations like Jefferson’s reinforce people’s pre-existing beliefs. Gun rights advocates have been howling about their supposedly lost rights, and fake quotations that make Jefferson sound angry and strident make them feel self-righteous.

Third, conservatism comes from history. The whole idea of being a conservative is to learn from the past. That is a wonderful thing. The past has much to teach us. Our nation’s Founders were far from perfect, but they said many wise things that we should take seriously. However, I am sorry to say, many Americans forget everything they learned in their history classes as soon as the final exam is over. Too many people just didn’t care to learn from the past. It seems like hard work. Nevertheless, to be a conservative, you need to know history. Senator Stanley masquerades as a conservative, but it appears that his conservative opinions partly arise from falsehood.

The truth: our Founding Fathers did not want an undisciplined citizen militia to roam the country and shoot firearms every time they dislike a government policy. Indeed, the United States Constitution opposes insurrections. In Article 1, Section 8, we read that one of the Congress’s powers is: “To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.” So, contrary to Senator Stanley, it is not the citizen militia’s job to cause insurrections. Indeed, Senator Stanley’s statement with its fake quotation could easily be viewed as disloyal to the United States and his oath of office.

Contrary to the world of George Orwell’s novel 1984, ignorance is not strength. If conservatives want people like me to take them seriously, they need to quit misrepresenting the United States’ Founding Fathers.


I wrote an article a few years ago about fake gun control quotations. Interested readers can either pay for a download or visit their library, which can probably get the article at no charge.