Massad Ayoob Quotes & Sayings

History has shown that the greater power of the gun is its power to deter. Bear in mind that criminals, by definition, target only victims they believe they can overpower. When the intended victim draws a gun, the predator realizes that their erstwhile target has the ability to kill them instantly. This tends to modify their behavior immediately without a shot being fired. — Massad Ayoob

Those of us who have seen violent death up close, who have seen what high-powered bullets can do to living human tissue, have a horror of inflicting that nightmarish, never forgotten damage on a fellow human being. Perhaps the only more terrifying prospect is that such a fate should befall us or our loved ones. This is why we, a representative cross-section of America's population, keep deadly weapons for personal defense. — Massad Ayoob

The Second Amendment isn't about duck hunting or target shooting. — Massad Ayoob

In a lifetime among cops since, I've noted that investigators who piece together the aftermaths of home invasion murders tend to keep their guns on all the time after that, even when off duty in their own house, and keep them by the bed when they go to sleep.They have learned from the helplessly-murdered dead — Massad Ayoob

The experience left me with a very strong sense of just how destructive this simple, seemingly mundane tool can be. A knife never jams. A knife never runs out of ammunition; you rarely see a gunshot murder victim who has been shot more than a few times, but any homicide investigator can tell you how common it is for the victim of a knife murder to bear twenty, thirty, or more stab and/or slash wounds. "A knife comes with a built-in silencer." Knives are cheap, and can be bought anywhere; there used to be a cutlery store at LaGuardia Airport, not far outside the security gates. There is no prohibition at law against a knife being sold to a convicted felon. Knives can be small and flat and amazingly easy to conceal. Anywhere — Massad Ayoob

any community that does not police itself will be policed from outside. — Massad Ayoob

The practice of CCW comes with a commitment, if you're serious, and that commitment is that you will actually carry the damn thing! — Massad Ayoob

Dr. King kept guns in his home to protect himself and his family. After firebombing and numerous death threats by racists, his application for a permit to carry a gun was denied by the 'may issue' white power structure (Democrat) in that time and place. Let the holiday that celebrates this man's life include some reflection on the importance of the Second Amendment. — Massad Ayoob

In the end, the focus on safety should be credited to the entire firearms-owning community, the "gun culture" if you will. — Massad Ayoob

The religious fanatic who practices terrorism cannot be reasoned with, because there is nothing you can threaten him with, and no alternative you can offer him that is more palatable than his genuine belief that if he dies fighting you, he will be greatly rewarded in afterlife. Only swift and extreme force can stop him. — Massad Ayoob

A basic principle of American justice holds that a bad man has the same rights as a good man. — Massad Ayoob

In any society, Law is an illusory concept that works only when everyone voluntarily agrees to live by it. — Massad Ayoob

My own idea of a $5,500 .45 auto is a used Volkswagon with a Glock 30 in the glove box ... — Massad Ayoob

Remember: once you have ascertained that you are dealing with hostile intruders, the staircase becomes a free-fire zone. — Massad Ayoob

Unsettling and Troubling Symptoms. — Massad Ayoob

Those who shoot in competition seem to have a remarkably high hit potential and survival ratio in actual gunfights. — Massad Ayoob

The two-inch blade can penetrate four inches into such parts of the body, the four-inch blade eight inches, etc. Having — Massad Ayoob

Firearms, if you think about it, are power tools. They drill holes in things and chew things up. That's their purpose. The purpose of the user is, quite simply, to puncture and destroy the right things and not the wrong things. — Massad Ayoob

I resent 'experts' who have never faced deadly threat, yet who tell me - and you - that we should not consider a response of equal power against those who would threaten our lives. — Massad Ayoob

And never let those who judge you forget that since you were obviously close enough to your opponent to shoot him with your gun, he was, ipso facto, close enough to shoot you with his. If, — Massad Ayoob

The way to reason with a predator is to make it aware that it can live in a cage, or it can die, but it can no longer prey upon us. — Massad Ayoob

You're born with intelligence, but not with ethics. — Massad Ayoob