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Alan Keyes on Gun Control
American Independent nominee for President; 2004 Republican challenger for IL Senate
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Fiercely defend the Second Amendment
The right of self-preservation and self-protection is inherent in all persons, communities and societies, which is why we fiercely defend the indispensable provisions of our
Second Amendment. Liberty cannot be protected if the people have been stripped of the physical means of doing so.
Source: America‘s Independent Party 2008 Platform & Constitution
Aug 20, 2008
Gun control agenda mistrusts ordinary citizens
The gun control agenda is based on the view that ordinary citizens cannot be trusted to use the physical power of arms responsibly. But a people that cannot be trusted with guns cannot be trusted with the much more dangerous powers of self-government.
The gun control agenda is thus an implicit denial of the human capacity for self-government and is tyrannical in principle.
Source: Campaign website, www.alankeyes.com, “Issues”
Oct 1, 2007
Fundamental DUTY of free citizens to keep & bear arms
I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. The right to keep and bear arms was included in the Bill of Rights so that when, by a long train of abuses, government evinces a methodical design upon our natural rights,
we will have the means to protect and recover those rights. In fact, if we make the judgment that our rights are being systematically violated, we have not merely the right, but the duty, to resist and overthrow the power responsible.
That duty requires that we maintain the material capacity to resist tyranny, if necessary--something that is very difficult to do if the government has all the weapons.
A strong case can be made, therefore, that it is a fundamental DUTY of the free citizen to keep and bear arms.
Source: Campaign website, www.alankeyes.com, “Issues”
Oct 1, 2007
Gun control mentality means crooks have all the guns
KEYES: I am a strong believer in the second amendment. The gun control mentality is ruthlessly absurd. It suggests that we should pass a law that prevents law abiding citizens from carrying weapons. You end up with a situation where the crooks
have all the guns and the law abiding citizens cannot defend themselves. I guess that’s good enough for Senator Obama who voted against the bill that would have allowed homeowners to defend themselves if their homes were broken into.
OBAMA: Let’s be honest. Mr. Keyes does not believe in common gun control measures like the assault weapons bill. Mr. Keyes does not believe in any limits from what I can tell with respect to the possession of guns,
including assault weapons that have only one purpose, to kill people. I think it is a scandal that this president did not authorize a renewal of the assault weapons ban.
Source: Illinois Senate Debate #3: Barack Obama vs. Alan Keyes
Oct 21, 2004
Second Amendment not about hunting, but about national duty
The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is in jeopardy these days-dangerously so. The purpose of the Second Amendment is to ensure that we will remain an armed people, able to defend our liberty. In our defense of firearm rights,
we must emphasize this fundamental purpose of the amendment. If we leave the impression that we think that the right to keep and bear arms concerns hunting and sports shooting, and making sure Americans have the right to entertain themselves with guns,
we will actually contribute to the false view that the Second Amendment is an historical curiosity.
The right to keep and bear arms derives from our duty to retain the basic means necessary to defend our country and our liberty. Certainly it is true
that the actual defense of our national borders is normally delegated to the professional military. But we, the people, are responsible for the defense of country and liberty, and the Second Amendment is crucial to our performance of that duty.
Source: Organizational website, RenewAmerica.us, “On The Issues”
Aug 3, 2004
No federal role in gun safety-leave it to states & parents
Q: What do you propose to protect children from injury or death from firearms?
A: There is almost no proper federal role in the area of firearms safety. Legislation concerning responsibility for negligence has traditionally, and properly, fallen to
the states. Irresponsibility of parents with regard to firearms is part of the question of the general responsibility, or lack thereof, of parents. As a people, we must honor and foster a recovery of personal and political self-government.
Source: National Association of Children’s Hospitals survey
Jan 8, 2000
Teach high school students to use guns
Speaking at the Gun Owners of New Hampshire’s presidential forum, Keyes’ proposal that high school students be taught how to use guns went over well.
Source: Boston Globe, p. A23
Dec 17, 1999
Columbine killers lacked moral development - not gun laws
The gun control mentality is that guns are in control of situations, and when we see kids like those in Columbine High School, we shouldn’t see human beings who have gone off the right moral road because their consciences and self-discipline have not
been properly developed. Instead, we should see guns in control of the situation, and then we should react against the guns. “Gun violence” should be called human violence, leaving us at least the dignity of being responsible for our own sins.
Source: (Cross-ref from Juvenile Crime) WorldNetDaily “Standing on p
Jun 14, 1999
Gun control is an outcome of godless materialism
The premise of the gun control agenda is that people can’t control things, but that things control people. At the root of the gun control agenda, as with the sex education agenda and so many other liberal agendas, is a denial of our moral nature. And
that denial of our moral nature rests ultimately on a denial of the existence of God and of a relationship between God and human things. So the gun control agenda is a natural outcome of the agenda of godless materialism.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Standing on principle”
May 14, 1999
Control people’s passions - not the things they use
[Gun control proponents] propose controlling the things we use, as if this will control people. Violence is not a function of the things; it’s a function of the heart. If the heart is wrong, then violence will come out of the heart as a consequence --
and if a gun isn’t handy, a machete will do. What is in control is not the thing, but the human being that allows his evil passions to control his actions, and thus lead to the awful situations we have seen from Indonesia to Littleton.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Standing on principle”
May 14, 1999
Columbine killers lacked moral development - not gun laws
The gun control mentality is that guns are in control of situations, and when we see kids like those in Columbine High School, we shouldn’t see human beings who have gone off the right moral road because their consciences and self-discipline have not
been properly developed. Instead, we should see guns in control of the situation, and then we should react against the guns. “Gun violence” should be called human violence, leaving us at least the dignity of being responsible for our own sins.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Standing on principle”
May 14, 1999
Against banning guns since that won’t end violence.
Consider the phony assertion that certain weapons should be banned because “they have no purpose except to kill people.” This debate is not about certain kinds of weapons that kill people; all kinds of weapons can kill. It is people that kill people,
and they can use countless kinds of weapons to do so, if killing is in their hearts. If we want to end violence in our land, we must warm the hearts of this people with a renewed dedication to the God-given equality of all human beings.
Source: www.keyes2000.org/issues/secondamendment.html 1/7/99
Jan 7, 1999
Supports right to bear arms for all types and uses of guns.
The 2nd Amendment was not put into the Constitution by the Founders merely to allow us to intimidate burglars, or hunt rabbits to our hearts’ content. The Founders added the 2nd Amendment so that when, after a long train of abuses,
a government evinces a methodical design upon our natural rights, we will have the means to protect and recover our rights. That is why the right to keep and bear arms was included in the Bill of Rights.
Source: www.keyes2000.org/issues/secondamendment.html 1/7/99
Jan 7, 1999
No bans on legal firearms; allow concealed carry
Eliminate all bans and measures that restrict law-abiding citizens from owning legally obtained firearms; Allow law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed firearm that is legally owned and registered.
Source: 1996 National Political Awareness Test, Project Vote Smart
Jul 2, 1996
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2008