Jefferson Didn't Say People Should Be Armed To Protect Themselves ...

English Español

Get PolitiFact in your inbox.

• Weekly Email Newsletter
• Daily Email Newsletter

Your Email Address Sign Up Facebook posts stated on August 15, 2019 in a Facebook post: Quotes Thomas Jefferson as saying "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."  

• Fake news
• Facebook Fact-checks
• Facebook posts

By Samantha Putterman August 19, 2019

Some supporters of gun rights on social media are sharing a striking post with a quotation attributed to Thomas Jefferson, a founding father who became the third U.S. president. 

The post displays a photo of a snake wrapped around a handgun with the words "Don’t Tread On Me." Along the bottom, the alleged statement by Jefferson reads:

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

But did he say it? The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Like many statements attributed to Jefferson on the internet, there is no credible evidence to support that Jefferson said or wrote these words. 

According to Monticello.org, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation's website, the statement cannot be found in any of the former president’s writings. Both parts of the quote appear in the website’s list of "Spurious Quotations." 

Researchers at Monticello found that the first sentence: "When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny," most likely comes from a series of debates on socialism published in 1914. At one point, a man named John Basil Barnhill said, "Where the people fear the government you have tyranny. Where the government fears the people you have liberty."

Some variations of the quote begin with, "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms," as the first sentence, which comes from the first of Jefferson's three drafts of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, although in the second and third drafts, the sentence was amended to read, "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms (within his own lands or tenements)."

Again, the latter sentence about using guns for protection against tyranny in government, Monticello officials say, "does not appear in the Virginia Constitution drafts or text as adopted, nor in any other known Jefferson writings."

With no evidence for the quote’s authenticity, we rate this False. 

Read About Our Process

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

Facebook post, Aug. 15, 2019

Snopes, Thomas Jefferson on Gun Rights, June 22, 2016

CNN, Did Jefferson really say that? Why bogus quotations matter in gun debate, Jan. 11, 2013

Monticello.org, When government fears the people, there is liberty... (Spurious Quotation), Accessed Aug. 19, 2019

Monticello.org, Strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms (Spurious Quotation), Accessed Aug. 19, 2019

Monticello.org, No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms, Accessed Aug. 19, 2019

Debates on Socialism, 1914; Accessed Aug. 19, 2019

Social Media stated on February 8, 2026 in publicaciones en redes sociales: “Durante su presentación en el Super Bowl, Bad Bunny le regaló su premio Grammy a Liam Conejo Ramos”, el niño de 5 años que fue detenido por ICE. Social Media stated on February 8, 2026 in posts: During the Super Bowl halftime show, “Bad Bunny brought Liam Conejo Ramos onto the stage,” the 5-year-old detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis. Jared Moskowitz stated on January 22, 2026 in an X post: The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “backlog of unanswered disaster assistance applications has exploded to the largest in its history.” Ron DeSantis stated on January 5, 2026 in a press conference: Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro “was releasing people from his prisons and sending them to our southern border under the Biden administration.” JD Vance stated on November 13, 2025 in an interview: Housing is expensive “because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants” and because of a housing shortage. James Uthmeier stated on November 6, 2025 in X post: “Evidence suggests that 1 in 25 women who consume (abortion) pills are hospitalized.” Ron DeSantis stated on October 15, 2025 in a speech: In Florida, “68 to 70% of property tax revenue” is from “second homes, investment properties, commercial properties, Airbnb,” not primary residences. Rand Paul stated on October 19, 2025 in an interview: “About 25% of the time the Coast Guard boards a ship, there are no drugs.” Darren Soto stated on October 13, 2025 in an X post: Florida will be the “hardest hit” state in the country if enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expire. Rick Scott stated on October 2, 2025 in an X post: Democrats shut down the government because they want “health care for illegal aliens and funding for free abortions.” Donald Trump stated on September 27, 2025 in a Truth Social post: On Jan. 6, 2021, 274 FBI agents were “probably acting as agitators and insurrectionists, but certainly not as ‘law enforcement officials.’” Donald Trump stated on September 23, 2025 in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly: “I have ended seven unendable wars.” X posts stated on September 11, 2025 in an X post: A book on Amazon titled “The Shooting of Charlie Kirk” with a Sept. 9 publication date is evidence the event was staged. Joseph Ladapo stated on September 3, 2025 in a press conference: Every school vaccine mandate “drips” with “slavery.” James Uthmeier stated on August 24, 2025 in an X post: The U.S. Census included a citizenship question “for over 150 years” before the Obama administration. Clear Any Rating True Mostly True Half True Mostly False False Pants on Fire Full Flop Half Flip No Flip Any Speaker Any Date Range Last 3 Months Last 6 Months Last 12 Months 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Any Category

• Donald Trump stated on February 8, 2026 in an interview on NBC: Crime in Minneapolis “is down 25, 30% because we’ve removed thousands of criminals from the area.”
• Tom O'Mara stated on January 20, 2026 in an op-ed: “New Yorkers pay 49% more than the national average for electricity.”
• Claudia Tenney stated on January 16, 2026 in a post on X: Said she has led the House effort to build a large Micron semiconductor facility near Syracuse.
• Donald Trump stated on February 3, 2026 in remarks in the Oval Office: "The crime rate now is the lowest it's been since 1900. That's 125 years."
• Social Media stated on February 8, 2026 in publicaciones en redes sociales: “Durante su presentación en el Super Bowl, Bad Bunny le regaló su premio Grammy a Liam Conejo Ramos”, el niño de 5 años que fue detenido por ICE.
• Social Media stated on February 8, 2026 in social media posts: An image shows Bad Bunny wearing a dress and burning the U.S. flag.
• Donald Trump stated on January 27, 2026 in remarks at a restaurant in Iowa: “We right now have more factories and plants being built in our country than we've ever had before.”
• Social Media stated on February 8, 2026 in posts: During the Super Bowl halftime show, “Bad Bunny brought Liam Conejo Ramos onto the stage,” the 5-year-old detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis.
• Social Media stated on February 5, 2026 in social media posts: An image shows Jeffrey Epstein “still alive and walking the streets of Tel Aviv,” Israel.
• Gretchen Whitmer stated on February 2, 2026 in a Substack: Under Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, there are “fewer families living in poverty” than under her predecessor.

Load more

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me up