--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: These zealots for disarming individual…" description: "\"These zealots for disarming individual Americans choose not to recognize the basic notion that defines American freedom: the difference between a good ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/wayne-lapierre-3321_amendment_these-zealots-for-disarming-individual-a_1181661.jpg" --- # These zealots for disarming individual Americans choose… ![“These zealots for disarming individual Americans choose not to recognize the basic notion that defines American freedom: the difference between a good guy with a gun and a bad guy with a gun.” quote by Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/wayne-lapierre-3321_amendment_these-zealots-for-disarming-individual-a_1181661.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/wayne-lapierre-3321_amendment_these-zealots-for-disarming-individual-a_1181661.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e2/wayne-lapierre-3321_amendment_these-zealots-for-disarming-individual-a_1181661.jpg) > “These zealots for disarming individual Americans choose not to recognize the basic notion that defines American freedom: the difference between a good guy with a gun and a bad guy with a gun.” [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom is defined by the right to bear arms, distinguishing lawful citizens from criminals. **In simple terms:** Gun rights define freedom. Key Takeaway Recognize the distinction between lawful and unlawful gun owners. Themes freedom rights responsibility Mood defensive controversial Type political advocacy When to use this quote - political debate - self‑defense legislation - public safety discussions - media commentary Key Concepts Second Amendment self‑defense Questions to Reflect On - How does gun ownership affect community safety? - What alternatives exist for personal protection? A Different Perspective The view may overlook non‑violent means of ensuring safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amendment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amendment/) [American freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-freedom/) [Bad guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-guy/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Good guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-guy/) [Gun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gun/) ## Related quotes > [The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. I call on Congress today to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/the-only-thing-that-stops-a-bad-guy-with-a-gun-is-a-good-guy-with-a-2/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [Whether it's people walking off 'The View' when Bill O'Reilly makes a statement about radical Islam or Juan Williams being fired for expressing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantor/whether-it-s-people-walking-off-the-view-when-bill-o-reilly-makes-a/) [Eric Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantor/) > [The White House should always be a friend to American freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearcey/the-white-house-should-always-be-a-friend-to-american-freedom/) [Nancy Pearcey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearcey/) > [The genius of the American system is that through freedom we have created extraordinary results from plain old ordinary people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-gramm/the-genius-of-the-american-system-is-that-through-freedom-we-have/) [Phil Gramm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-gramm/) > [“The American people want to know that when they borrow a book from the library or buy a book, the government won't be looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-american-people-want-to-know-that-when-they-borrow-a-book-from/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [If you're paying taxes in this country, you have a right to voice your criticisms of your own government. That's pretty much the foundation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jemele-hill/if-you-re-paying-taxes-in-this-country-you-have-a-right-to-voice-your/) [Jemele Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jemele-hill/) > [I express many absurd opinions. But I am not the first man to do it; American freedom consists largely in talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-howe/i-express-many-absurd-opinions-but-i-am-not-the-first-man-to-do-it/) [E. W. Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-howe/) > [When you as an American have freedom, the freedom encompasses a lot of things, including the right to do dumb stuff, to do destructive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/when-you-as-an-american-have-freedom-the-freedom-encompasses-a-lot-of/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [What America first means is we put the national interests of the United States and the well-being of our own country and our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/what-america-first-means-is-we-put-the-national-interests-of-the/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [“The genius of the American system is not freedom; the genius of the American system is checks and balances. Nobody gets all the power.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/the-genius-of-the-american-system-is-not-freedom-the-genius-of-the/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [And they can appreciate, through personal experience, that the really decisive battleground of American freedom is in the hearts and minds of our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/and-they-can-appreciate-through-personal-experience-that-the-really/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/we-can-t-be-so-fixated-on-our-desire-to-preserve-the-rights-of/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [The high office of the President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom and before I leave office, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-high-office-of-the-president-has-been-used-to-foment-a-plot-to/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [We cannot restore traditional American freedom unless we limit the government's power to tax. No tinkering with this, that, or the other law will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/we-cannot-restore-traditional-american-freedom-unless-we-limit-the/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [We Americans understand freedom; we have earned it, we have lived for it, and we have died for it. This nation and its people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/we-americans-understand-freedom-we-have-earned-it-we-have-lived-for/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) ## More by Wayne LaPierre > [I think we need national carry reciprocity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/i-think-we-need-national-carry-reciprocity/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [The U.N.'s driving mission is to accumulate power at the expense of the sovereignity of individual nations and fundamental individual rights, and its gun-ban…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/the-u-n-s-driving-mission-is-to-accumulate-power-at-the-expense-of/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [I think the president's comfortable with a certain level of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/i-think-the-president-s-comfortable-with-a-certain-level-of-violence/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [A gun in the hands of a secret service agent protecting our president isn't a bad word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/a-gun-in-the-hands-of-a-secret-service-agent-protecting-our-president/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people through vicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/there-exists-in-this-country-sadly-a-callous-corrupt-and-corrupting/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [We cannot make ourselves safer by making ourselves less free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/we-cannot-make-ourselves-safer-by-making-ourselves-less-free/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [Obama, Bloomberg, and the national gun-ban media frequently exploit tragedy, using fear and lies to sell their agenda to non-gun owners, especially when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/obama-bloomberg-and-the-national-gun-ban-media-frequently-exploit/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [Lawful residents of San Francisco are being stripped of their freedom because of an illegal measure that defies common sense. I believe that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/lawful-residents-of-san-francisco-are-being-stripped-of-their-freedom/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [The Internet, as the most open free-speech institution in history, has become a major factor in gun owners' ability to achieve success in preserving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/the-internet-as-the-most-open-free-speech-institution-in-history-has/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [Folks, Brian Williams isn't the exception. He's exactly what they've taught us to expect from them all. It's not journalism any more - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/folks-brian-williams-isn-t-the-exception-he-s-exactly-what-they-ve/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [People have become so weary of all the government and media dishonesty, the all-too-commonplace lying, that most Americans have stopped listening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/people-have-become-so-weary-of-all-the-government-and-media/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [Everybody, every American starts to have - needs to start having a security plan. We need to be able to protect ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/everybody-every-american-starts-to-have-needs-to-start-having-a/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [We at the NRA embrace and hold dear what makes us uniquely American. Family, responsibility, patriotism, mutual respect, honesty, civic duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/we-at-the-nra-embrace-and-hold-dear-what-makes-us-uniquely-american/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [In truth, we are the only developed country on earth with a constitution that recognizes the God-given right to keep and bear arms, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/in-truth-we-are-the-only-developed-country-on-earth-with-a/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [After Hurricane Sandy, we saw the hellish world that the gun prohibitionists see as their utopia. Looters ran wild in south Brooklyn. 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Polsby > [Can you understand why the Congress, most states and most cities refuse to pass legislation requiring the registration and licensing of any and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/can-you-understand-why-the-congress-most-states-and-most-cities/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Guns aren't the problem; sick people are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sessions/guns-aren-t-the-problem-sick-people-are/) [Pete Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sessions/) > [The proliferation of right-to-carry laws throughout the states has drawn plaintive complaints from the criminal element. They feel that it makes their profession too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/the-proliferation-of-right-to-carry-laws-throughout-the-states-has/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [Gun violence has cost us too many political leaders, and hardly ever the worst ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/gun-violence-has-cost-us-too-many-political-leaders-and-hardly-ever/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I don't think anybody who carries a rifle carries the future. 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