Chris Matthews, political commentator and host of the show Hardball, is a personality that I like listening to but disagree with. Sun Tzu said it best: Know thy enemy. When Republican Senate candidate (FL) Marco Rubio tweeted that “I have a feeling the situation in Iran would be a little different if they had a 2nd Amendment like ours,” Matthews commented on his June 22nd show: “Wow! Things would be different if the protesters had the Constitutional right to bear arms?! To fight back against the Iranian Guard? I hadn’t thought of that. Then again it wouldn’t really be a non-violent protest, would it Mr. Rubio, if the non-violent protesters were walking around with guns!” Matthews is flat wrong in his analysis.

First off, Matthews’ own position on limiting the second amendment is clear, as shown in this video where he says that he wants people “disarmed":

In criticizing Rubio’s defense of our Second Amendment rights, Matthews seems to confuse strength with violence. Apparently, he has never heard the adage: “If you wish for peace, prepare for war.” The Second Amendment right is not to be interpreted as a mandate to go and use weapons on anyone or everyone, as some Democrats would have us believe, but rather as a reminder that the ultimate authority in our system of government is the people and the right of the people’s self-defense cannot be denied by any governing power. In practice, the Second Amendment serves as a deterrent to the rational-minded and a defense against imminent harm. Matthews’ assertion that the protests would turn violent if the Iranian people were armed is incorrect, just look at the vast majority of political protests and rallies in the United States that do not turn violent. The truth is that if the Iranian people had a Second Amendment, then the Iranian regime would not crack down on the protesters so heavy-handedly. The right to defend themselves would serve as a deterrent and the right to be heard would more likely be respected. The greatest fear of tyrannical regimes is a population that can defend itself.

Both on the domestic and international front, the Left is trying to disarm the United States, believing that somehow the criminals, terrorists, and dictators will respond to a defenseless America by becoming our friends and abandoning their evil ways. Freedom-loving Americans must not allow Democrats’ plans for unilateral disarmament to come to fruition. On that note: good for you, Marco Rubio, for pointing out that our rights in this country have been indispensable in securing our freedom and that some in the world can learn from our example. We ignore this lesson at our own peril.

-AG