Cooperisms

Cooperisms

Selections from the ramblings of a wise and well traveled man.

“Life is hopelessly complex for people who have no principles.”

“Pick up a rifle and you change instantly from a subject to a citizen.”

“Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud, and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons.”

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”

“The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependant completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized.”

“Remember the first rule of gun fighting…’have a gun’.”

“Safety is nice, but it’s not first. Life is first and life is not safe.”

“Do you care about freedom? Dreams may have inspired it, and wishes prompted it, but only war and weapons have made it yours.”

“The media insist that crime is the major concern of the American public today. In this connection they generally push the point that a disarmed society would be a crime free society. They will not accept the truth that if you take all the guns off the street you still will have a crime problem, whereas if you take the criminals off the street you cannot have a gun problem.”

“The will to survive is not as important as the will to prevail- the answer to criminal aggression is retaliation.”

“One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that violence begets violence. I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure- and in some cases I have- that any man who offer violence to his fellow citizens begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.”

“We continue to be exasperated by the view apparently gaining momentum in certain circles, that armed robbery is okay as long as nobody gets hurt! The proper solution to armed robbery is a dead robber, on the scene.”

“The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory.”

“The 1911 pistol remains the service pistol of choice in the eyes of those who understand the problem. Back when we audited the FBI academy in 1947, I was told that I ought not to use my pistol in their training program because it was not fair. Maybe the first thing one should demand of his sidearm is that it be unfair.”

“A free man must not be told how to think, either by the government or by social activists. He may certainly be shown the right way, but he must not accept being forced into it.”

“The conclusions seem inescapable that in certain circles a tendency has arisen to fear people who fear government. Government, as the Father of Our Country put it so well, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. People who understand history, especially the history of government, do well to fear it. For a people to express openly their fear of those of us who are afraid of tyranny is alarming. Fear of the state is in no sense subversive. It is, to the contrary, the healthiest political philosophy for a free people.”

“One difference between a liberal and a pickpocket is that if you demand your money back from a pickpocket, he will not question your motives.”

Jeff Cooper (5/20-9/06)