[Ads-l] Fake GW quote

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

An article in 1975 attributed the beginning of the quotation to George
Washington, but the remainder of the quotation was not placed between
quotation marks. Some later reader(s) probably misread this passage.

Date: October 1975
Periodical: Law and Order: An Independent Magazine for the Police Profession
Volume 23, Number 10
Article: Gun Control or Political Control?
Author: W. Cleon Skousen (Editorial Director)
Start Page 22, Quote Page 22
Publisher: The Copp Organization (Wm. C. Copp), New York
Database: Internet Archive

[Begin excerpt]
Another expression of the same sentiment is found in the words of
Thomas Jefferson who wrote in his draft of the Virginia Constitution:
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms," and George
Washington emphasized that "a free people ought not only to be armed
and disciplined" but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition
to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to
abuse them, which would include their own government. (Quoted by Rep.
Philip Crane in the Congressional Record April 21, 1975 pp. E 1896-97)
[End excerpt]

Also, the October 1996 issue of "New Jersey Militia Newsletter"
attributed the full passage to George Washington.
Snopes and other organizations have written articles on this topic,
but the two citations mentioned above appear to be a new discoveries.

Website: Snopes
Article: Did George Washington Want Citizens Armed Against the Government?
Date: Jan. 7, 2016
Author: Dan Evon
Did George Washington Want Citizens Armed Against the Government?
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/george-washington-gun-quote/

Website: USA Today
Article: Fact check: George Washington didn't say citizens should arm
themselves against government
Author: Tonyaa Weathersbee (USA TODAY)
Updated June 20, 2020
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/20/fact-check-washington-quote-second-amendment-taken-out-context/3222186001/

Website: Mount Vernon
Spurious Quotations
https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/spurious-quotations

On Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 9:30 AM Jonathan Lighter
<00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> Accidentally deleted from the above: "According to Barabara McQuade, _Attack
> from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America_ (1974), "There is no
> evidence George Washington ever said any such thing."
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 8:24 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > The following, attributed to George Washington, is (as they say) "all over
> > the Internet":
> >
> > “A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should
> > have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence
> > from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own
> > government."
> >
> > The earliest occurrence I find is in the _Congressional Record_ (June 26,
> > 2008), quoted by Rep. Paul C. Broun (R.-Ga.).
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org