A Quote by Thomas Jefferson on books, commitment, confidence, determination, and laws

Jefferson's "Commonplace Book," 1774-1776 Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve, rather, to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.