On July 15 gun control proponent Mark Kelly – husband of Gabby Giffords – criticized Gun Owners of America’s Larry Pratt for holding the position that the Second Amendment is in place to keep the government in check.
On July 6 Breitbart News revisited Federalist 46 and saw that James Madison believed Americans possess guns in order to keep the government in check.
According to the New York Daily News, Pratt was quoted by Rolling Stone as saying, “The Second Amendment is not for hunting… [rather, it is] for restraining tyrannical tendencies in government… Especially those in the liberal, tyrannical end of the spectrum.”
Pratt said he was glad the armed citizenry was “in the back of [politicians’] minds,” and he expressed hope that such an awareness would make them “behave.”
Kelly reacted to Pratt by releasing a statement in which he said, “No matter where you stand on policies that reduce gun violence, Larry Pratt’s view that our leaders should live in fear of gun violence is an affront to all responsible gun owners, Gabby and me included.”
Pratt did not say leaders “should live in fear of gun violence” – but he did express Madison’s view that the Second Amendment is in place to keep the government in check.
It should also be noted that Pratt refused to give Rolling Stone an interview. The piece they published on him was from a collection of quotes they pulled from various speeches, statements, and Q & A sessions he participated in as far back as the 1970s.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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