I'm not sure that's a legit quote.(monticello.org)
Comments: This quotation has not been found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson. The language is somewhat uncharacteristic of Jefferson's style. "Stand around" in the sense used here is not an expression that can be found in Jefferson's letters. He almost always wrote "every body" instead of "everybody." And there are no instances of the word "reload" (or variations thereof) referring to firearms in Jefferson's writings. This quotation may have its source with Robert G. Ingersoll's statement, "What [Christian kings] call peace is the little time necessarily spent in reloading their guns," first published in 1882.
(post is archived)