Springfield Republican (Springfield, MA), 6/7/1903

“As for keeping firearms in one’s house or place of business, every one is as free to do it as to breathe. Article 2 of the amendments to the constitution of the United States declares that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not ‘be infringed,’ and apparently our forebears esteemed the right a most important one. But while the keeping of firearms may be a constitutional right worth having, the wisdom of the practice is open to doubt…Even if you should be confronted by burglars, the chances in a shooting affray would be against you [and] frequently someone besides the burglar gets the bullet.”

 

The Evening Nonpareil (Council Bluffs, IA), 2/3/1909

“It is true that the constitution of the United States says that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,’ but so far as the revolver in the pocket or in the bureau drawer is concerned, it is often made plain that it is well to waive that right, and never plainer than in this [shooting accident] in Chicago. The gun notion is one of the foolish notions extant.” (Last paragraph of article)

 

Unnamed Police Official of Milwaukee, WI, 3/1909

“Every firearm and the owner thereof ought to be registered…Of course no law could be passed absolutely prohibiting the carrying of firearms. The right of the individual to carry them is guaranteed in the second amendment to the constitution, which says: ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’”

 

The Detroit News, (Detroit, MI), 5/25/1912

“‘The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ This specific reservation of the right to keep and bear arms was regarded as quite necessary at the time…Today the situation is completely changed and the right to keep and bear arms, instead of being a protection, may be a peril to the lives of citizens…It is a deplorable state of affairs that should be corrected by radical legislation and strict enforcement of law. If necessary the constitutional amendment should be remodeled or qualified to suit the new conditions.”

 

The Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA) 12/11/1913

“Representative Frank Park has offered in the house an amendment to [the second] amendment, as follows: ‘Provided that congress may regulate the carrying of small arms in the territories and the District of Columbia, and each state may regulate the carrying of small arms within its border.’ Judge Park is quoted in Washington correspondence of The Atlanta Constitution asfollows: ‘…Imagine even a peaceful negro with a revolver pressing against his person in one pocket and a flask of liquor in another, and you can predict what will happen when he goes to a dance or engages in a card game in the woods.”

 

San Antonio Evening News (San Antonio, TX), 11/8/1922

“[The] Second Amendment to the National Constitution declares that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ How to safeguard this self-defense privilege, which is still valuable—even in this highly-civilized age with its supposedly efficient police-systems—and also curb the dangerous criminal and habitual pistol-‘toter,’ is a problem that long has perplexed both lawmakers and peace officers.

 

There is no worse foe to society than the armed bandit. The so-called ‘respectable’ citizen who goes armed from cap to toe, ready to draw at the drop of a hat, is scarcely less dangerous. Many lives would be spared were both these elements denied possession of revolvers. No practical method of enforcing the laws against carrying concealed weapons has been devised. An absolute ban on the sale of firearms has been proposed often, but obviously it would be unconstitutional.”

 

Kansas City Kansan (Kansas City, KS) via The Omaha Morning Bee (Omaha, NE), 6/15/1923

“Although the constitution says the right of the people to bear arms shall not be infringed, since the pioneer days it has been found that the keeping or carrying of arms is not conducive to personal safety or security of personal property, and the people are voluntarily disarming themselves.”

 

State Rep.-Elect Alvin G. Golucke (GA), 2/22/1925

“All that I am trying to do now, is to remove the ‘pistol’ from the [state] constitutional protection it now enjoys…Many people look to the federal congress to pass an act to relieve the situation, but this is a vain look, because it is provided, in the second amendment to the federal constitution, in words almost similar to those found in our state constitutions ‘that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ No matter how much it may desire, congress cannot pass an act which will contravene this second amendment.”

 

Toledo Blade (Toledo, OH), 11/28/1925

“During the deer-hunting season in New York, fifteen persons were killed…The second amendment to the federal constitution lays it down that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ This amendment, one of ten, was declared in force in 1791. It is possible that at the time the fathers of the republic had the rights and needs of hunters and pioneers in mind as well as citizens of a tyrannical bent who might come into power. Hunting was an everyday affair then…Hunting today is carried on in short open seasons. There is small chance for the sportsman to get to know his weapon thoroughly and to avoid putting temptation in its way. The amendment no longer is useful. It may be decided in time, should accidents in the field maintain their present rate, to repeal that article of the constitution.”

 

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX) via The Abilene Morning Reporter-News (Abilene, TX), 9/2/1928

“The constitution guarantees to the citizen the right to bear arms. Of course the framers of the constitution had no idea the guarantee they inserted would legalize ‘pistol toting’ by a large element of the people and make the deadly revolver an American toy. Federal regulation of the possession of arms would require revocation of that clause of the constitution…That is what we must have before anything really effective will be done.”

 

The Evening Tribune (San Diego, CA), 8/22/1930

“At last real control of ‘gun toting’ seems to be in sight—by uniform law in all states…When the provision reserving the right of all citizens to bear arms was written into the constitution nobody could have anticipated the changes that time would bring to the country. The existence of that clause has been consistently used to defeat all attempts to control the use of firearms. The endorsement of the measure quoted above for the first time makes such control probable without violating the spirit of the constitution.”

 

The Boston Herald (Boston, MA), 7/27/1933

“The trouble with gun toting is that the constitution guarantees the people the right to bear arms, though the fathers of course had no dim notion of present conditions. The only remedy now in sight is a standard law, uniform in all the states, which is not easy to get.”

 

Atty. Gen. Homer S. Cummings, 4/16/1934

(Note: These comments were made in the context of formulating what eventually became the National Firearms Act of 1934)

 

“All these bills have been drafted with an eye to constitutional limitations.”

 

“Bearing in mind our limitations of the constitutional character, bearing in mind our limitations to extend our power beyond the immediate requirements of the problem, this is our best thought on the subject.”

 

“I am afraid [imposing registration on existing weapon owners] would be unconstitutional.”

 

The Evansville Courier (Evansville, IN), 5/8/1937

“A simpler and perhaps more effective course [than registration] would be to forbid the private possession of firearms except in cases where citizens could establish their special need of such weapons…But apparently any general prohibition is barred by the constitution. Americans still have their original right ‘to keep and bear arms’ for legitimate purposes.”

 

San Antonio Evening News (San Antonio, TX), 4/18/1938

“To the average citizen—particularly the sportsman—the [proposed pistol regulation] scheme involves considerable red tape. That citizen may cite the Second Amendment. ‘The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ Even so, a right more important still—that to life—must be considered. It is still too easy for the bad man to arm himself and prey upon peaceful residents.”

 

Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 5/1/1938

“The [registration of pistols and revolvers] raises no question of the right of an American citizen to keep and bear arms—a right guaranteed him in the U.S. constitution—but it does provide that the names of persons purchasing pistols and revolvers shall be registered, and it authorizes the fingerprinting of purchasers in case of resale.”

 

The Evening Tribune (San Diego, CA), 7/28/1938

“‘The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed’…has been the subject of much controversy, and sometimes an obstacle to the enactment of laws designed to protect law-abiding citizens and law-enforcement officers from ruthless killers.”

Jimmy Castledine, Assistant County Attorney for Wichita County, TX, 2/10/1951

“In maintaining this registration there will be no infringement of any citizen’s right to keep and bear arms as provided under the federal constitution.”

 

The Lorain Journal (Lorain, OH), 6/18/1952

“The increasing abuse of firearms in this country is becoming a menace of frightening proportions. Unless individual owners of weapons take voluntary steps to protect themselves and the public from injury, it may become necessary to curb the right of every citizen to bear arms.”

 

Detroit Tribune (Detroit, MI), 5/31/1958

“The United States Constitution is on the side of the hoodlum when it comes to efforts of police, district attorneys and some legislators to place greater restriction on the sale of rifles, shotguns and ammunition. Article II of the Bill of Rights says that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’”

 

Erie Daily Times, 10/17/1963

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation has some interesting figures on the skyrocketing sale of hand-guns in this country. They are the weapons of the murderer…The right of all citizens to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution but there are common-sense regulations which would not impair a basic liberty.”

 

Herbert T. Jenkins, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2/27/1965

“The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms…There was a very good reason for the possession of firearms in rural areas but today the population is shifting rapidly from rural sections to cities and congested urban areas…There was a time when a license to drive an automobile was considered an inherent right. But our streets and highways became congested to the point where it was necessary to initiate a program of control…In my opinion, we have reached the same point in the regulations and control of firearms.”