The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
But NBC’s Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press,” says that doesn’t mean Americans have a right to bear arms.
“This current version of the Republican Party is being held hostage by a vocal minority obsessed with an absolute right that does not exist,” Todd said on his show on Sunday.
Todd went on an anti-gun, anti-GOP rant to open his show, following in the footsteps of liberals who blast anyone for offering “thoughts and prayers” after a shooting in Texas left 19 children and two adults dead.
“It’s become our uniquely American ritual of words after each episode of this uniquely American serial tragedy. Thoughts and prayers, nothing we can do,” Todd said. “No law would have stopped this. The real problem is mental illness. If only the victims had been armed. More thoughts and prayers.”
Todd argued that the law’s to blame.
“How do we allow an 18-year-old, in this case, [the shooter], to buy assault rifles and accumulate more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition, all legally, mind you,” Todd said. “Whether it’s guns, or climate change, or protecting our democracy, we no longer have a politics that can meet these crucial moments that we face.”
And the host blamed Americans, lamenting that “no member of Congress has been voted out of office for being too pro-gun. Not one!”
“Until the majorities who claim they want tougher background checks and to get assault weapons off the street, vote like they mean it. We can expect to hear more calls for thoughts and prayers and that’s it,” Todd said.
Todd’s dismissal of the Second Amendment came after filmmaker Michael Moore said “We need a moratorium on gun sales … time to repeal the Second Amendment.”
“We won’t acknowledge that we are a violent people, to begin with,” Moore said on MNBC. “This country was birthed in violence with the genocide of the native people at the barrel of a gun. This country was built on the backs of slaves with a gun to their backs to build this country into the country that we got to have. We don’t want to acknowledge our two original sins here that have a gun behind the ability for us to become who we became.”
“We need a moratorium, perhaps, on gun sales. Who will say on this network or any other network in the next few days it’s time to repeal the Second Amendment? Oh, you can’t say that. Well, why not? Why not?” Moore said.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.