Nelson Shields Quote

“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 handguns being produced... The second problem is to get handguns registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of handguns and all handgun ammunition -- except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors -- totally illegal.”

~ Nelson Shields

to the New Yorker Magazine, July 26, 1976, pp. 53

Ratings and Comments


Waffler, Smith, Arkansas

I bet there will be a lot of new licensed collectors and sporting clubs.

Eric, Wichita 7 Atlanta

Hmmm... a similar utterance today should be banned as hate speech, or prosecutable under civil rights laws, or hey, how about the RICO statutes since Handgun Control Inc is now officially an anti-civil rights organization, similar in nature to the KKK. The sweet smell of Freedom!

J Carlton, Calgary

The real reasons are of course gun confiscation. The experiments are already being run.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taU9d26wT4 and this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm5PC7z79-8&feature=related and this one too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhvV2uz10eA&feature=related oh and one more...of so many...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhvV2uz10eA&feature=related. And now that the President has given himself (contrary to the Constitution) the power to invoke Martial law with the stroke of a pen... you're neighborhood could look like this too, at any time.

Me Again
  • Reply
Me Again    7/24/08

ANY Anti-Civil Rights Organizations can go to HELL in my opinion.

jim k, austin

He left out one group that will have all the guns they need, They are called "criminals".

RobertSRQ
  • Reply
RobertSRQ    7/24/08

Sad, sad, sad. We don't need guns your words are violent enough.

Bryan Morton, Stuart, FL

jim k, austin, I thought he covered criminals under the headings Military and Policemen. No one wants to get rid of all guns, in fact that would be impossible. They just want guns in the hands of the "right" people. I'm sorry, but being defenseless against the "right" people scares the Hell out of me.

Waffler, Smith, Arkansas

Lets all get on the open carry bandwagon, go to opencarry.org. You wonder about these people, apparently they never read history. We had open carry in the wild west and the folks out there got rid of it, made people check their guns at the sheriffs office or outside of the saloon. Now these guys (the open carry ones) want us to go back to the wild west days. Will we ever learn. I figure if we all go to open carry as soon as possible the backlash will set in and we will get back to common sense once again. Lets face these gun nuts have never heard about the word discreet. We all have guns lets just keep quiet about it.

E Archer, NYC

Gun control laws have not stopped gun violence -- every city that banned guns increased their murder rate. Waffler, you've watched too many spaghetti westerns -- it is not history, you dolt. If the west was disarmed a long time ago, why do more people in the West have guns than the East? Hey, I agree, people kill people, and the gun was more powerful than the arrow, and the American Indian was wiped out -- due for the most part to federal armies. Had the American Indian been armed as any Cavalry man, things might have turned out differently. Robert, I respect your opinion. Work on your front and others will work on theirs. Guns aren't the problem -- people are! I'm interested in seeing how DC does in the next couple years with hand guns back in people's homes. I undestand the reasoning behind gun control -- unfortunately, it just doesn't work -- it is really 'people control' and that is contrary to a free republic.

Ken, Milford Pa

Why is it so difficult for some people to understand that freedoms lost are never given back? Once you lose them they must be restored by force of arms. If you don't have arms, then all freedoms fall like dominoes. I prefer to keep my freedoms rather than to lose them and have to fight to get them back. The first thing every tyrant did is round up the intellectuals and guns. The weak and defenseless are then easy to oppress.

Mike, Norwalk

Waffler, I smile, you watch way too many westerns. Back in the real world, when public schools became infected with despotic propaganda and the police and politicians became criminals, gun ownership began to be threatened.

Waffler, Smith, Arkansas

If we all carried a pistol or a revolver on our hip every day every where then would the gun lobby be happy. And would we not all be equal. Shoudl we go around wondering as to who is a criminal and who is a concealed carry guy. We would all be equal with a gun at our side. No intimdation all equal.

E Archer, NYC

Don't confuse 'equality' to mean equal in power. The only equality the US Constitution recognizes is equal RIGHTS. We are obviously inherently unequal in power (i.e. knowledge, abilities, wealth, associations). Never in their wildest dreams did the Founders envision a central government regulating the powers of the People (i.e. redistribution of wealth, citizen disarmament, compulsory government indoctrination, compulsory membership in unions, corporations, etc.) -- quite the opposite, the powers to be regulated were those OF the government. Anything else is 'oppression' and contrary to the principles of Liberty. Wherever there are no prohibtions on concealed weapons, no one knows who is carrying or not -- that is the point! The possibility of attacking an armed citizen is enough to deter the majority of criminals (whether members of Congress or not).

warren, olathe

Excelent example of how they think and what the goal is.

Durham, Birmingham, AL

We'll all be safe when the Gestapo has a monopoly on guns.  Right?

Cal, Lewisville

Chicago by law is a gun and ammunition free city.  So unless you read the headlines, it's also a crime free city.

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