USA TODAY The claim: Sigmund Freud said, 'A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity' A meme that has proliferated on internet pages for those who oppose gun control uses a quote supposedly from Sigmund Freud to ironically contradict those who say that "real men don't need guns." In the meme, a poster shows a silhouette of a pistol, pointed in the direction of a white-haired man in sunglasses who stands next to the poster. Below the photo, Freud, the Austrian neurologist and "father of psychoanalysis," is quoted as saying, "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity."