Quotes Thomas Jefferson did not say...

Portrait of President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) by Revolutionary War hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817)

Quotation: "The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it."

Earliest known appearance in print attributed to Thomas Jefferson:: 2007


Comments: We currently have no evidence that Thomas Jefferson said or wrote, "The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it" or any of its listed variations.

For a discussion of this spurious quote see the Monticello website here.