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Who really said it

Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence

Not George Washington — written by C. S. Wheatley in 1926 C. S. Wheatley fl. 1926 · contributor to Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine
Disputed Free to reuse

George Washington never wrote or spoke these words. Quote Investigator traced the passage to an outdoor-sports writer, C. S. Wheatley, whose September 1926 opinion piece “Older Ideas of Firearms” in Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine ran the line as his own commentary — unquoted — right after a sentence that mentioned a Washington address. Later readers mistook Wheatley’s words for Washington’s, and the misattribution spread through newspapers in the 1970s–80s.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence” Not George Washington. The line was written by C. S. Wheatley as his own opinion in "Older Ideas of Firearms," Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine, September 1926; it appears nowhere in Washington's writings or speeches.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to George Washington. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

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In context

Evoking the world of C. S. Wheatley — outdoor-sports writer, Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine. Theme: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The earliest documented source

Actually written by
C. S. Wheatley
Source
“Older Ideas of Firearms,” Hunter-Trader-Trapper
Published
September 1926 · Columbus, Ohio (vol. 53, no. 3, p. 34)
Falsely attributed to
George Washington (spurious)

Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence.

As printed, these were Wheatley’s own words — not enclosed in quotation marks and not presented as a quotation of Washington. Per Quote Investigator, the preceding sentence mentioned a Washington address, and later readers wrongly carried the attribution over to this paragraph.

Quote Investigator: origin of the “liberty teeth” quote

The paper trail

  • Quote Investigator traced the passage to C. S. Wheatley’s September 1926 article in Hunter-Trader-Trapper, where it was his own opinion.
  • Check Your Fact rated the Washington attribution false and quoted Mount Vernon’s spurious-quotations listing.
  • Barry Popik documents the anachronisms (“prairie wagon,” fractional-percent statistics) that rule out an 18th-century author.
Public domain

The wording originates in C. S. Wheatley’s article in Hunter-Trader-Trapper, a U.S. work first published in September 1926 — before 1931 — so the text itself is in the public domain in the United States. (This concerns the 1926 text; it has nothing to do with the false Washington attribution.)

Fact-check

How it went wrong

This is one of the most widely circulated fake “Founder” gun quotes. The wording is real — but it belongs to a 1926 magazine writer, not to George Washington.

George Washington Spurious

The line appears in none of Washington’s writings, letters, or speeches. Mount Vernon’s estate lists it among spurious quotations: “This quotation does not show up in any of Washington’s writings, nor does any closely related quote.”

C. S. Wheatley (1926) True source

Quote Investigator found the passage in Wheatley’s September 1926 article in Hunter-Trader-Trapper, written as his own opinion; the sentence just before it referenced a Washington address, which seeded the confusion.

The thought is C. S. Wheatley’s 1926 editorial opinion, misattributed to Washington by readers who mistook adjacent sentences — documented by Quote Investigator.

Context

Why this one keeps circulating

The sentence has become a fixture of gun-rights memes and speeches precisely because it sounds like an 18th-century founder: terse, aphoristic, constitutional. But its earliest trace is a 1926 hobbyist magazine, and the passage carries tells that betray a modern hand — references and phrasing (“prairie wagon,” a “99 99/100 percent” statistic) that don’t fit Washington’s era or diction.

The misattribution is a textbook case of a quotation-mark error: Wheatley named a Washington address in one sentence, then gave his own opinion in the next without quotation marks, and later copyists collapsed the two.

The thought was a 1926 gun writer’s — Washington’s name was pinned on it decades later.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Freedom Power

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: full origin tracequoteinvestigator.com

The authoritative investigation tying the exact wording to C. S. Wheatley’s 1926 Hunter-Trader-Trapper article.
Snopes fact-checksnopes.com

Rates the Washington attribution false and reviews the anachronisms and Playboy correction.
Check Your Factcheckyourfact.com

Verdict “False,” citing both Mount Vernon’s spurious list and QI’s Wheatley finding.
Barry Popik: quotation etymologybarrypopik.com

Documents the anachronisms and early newspaper appearances of the bogus quote.
Mount Vernon: Spurious Quotationsmountvernon.org

Washington’s own estate lists this line as not found in any of his writings.

The real author

Who actually wrote it

C. S. Wheatley

fl. 1926 · outdoor-sports writer, Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine

C. S. Wheatley was a contributor to Hunter-Trader-Trapper, a Columbus, Ohio periodical for hunters and trappers. Almost nothing is recorded about him beyond the September 1926 article “Older Ideas of Firearms,” in which the “liberty teeth” sentence appears as his own editorializing — not as a quotation of anyone. The thought is his; the famous attribution to George Washington is a reading error that took hold decades later.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Earliest documented source

C. S. Wheatley, “Older Ideas of Firearms,” Hunter-Trader-Trapper 53, no. 3 (September 1926): 34 (Columbus, OH). Earliest documented source of the “liberty teeth” passage, per Quote Investigator.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/firearms-stand-next-in-importance-to-the-constitution

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