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. Cesare Beccaria
Note: the quote comes from a translation of an essay by Beccaria entitled "Essay on Crimes and Punishment" - sometimes falsely attributed to Thomas Jefferson.
