Al-Qaeda for the Second Amendment?
Following a recent al-Qaeda issued video in which terrorists are instructed about “how easy” it is to obtain guns in America, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is asking his citizens to complain to Congress about lax legislation.
“Close the loopholes that let terrorists buy guns,” reads a message in Bloomberg’s campaign, which rebroadcasts in part the al-Qaeda video and cautions America that rules need to be changed before another tragedy occurs.RT’s Adam vs. The Man host Adam Kokesh says that making people afraid won’t help the debate over gun rights in the States. “You shouldn’t be afraid that someone is taking advantage of you for being disarmed, but that there is a massive government effort to keep people disarmed,” he says.Kokesh debates RT host Lauren Lyster, who is in favor of more stringent gun laws. Kokesh, however, thinks that civilian firearm use isn’t really a problem. “When civilians use firearms, they are much less likely to fire arm. They are much more likely to be used to prevent crimes,” he says. Kokesh adds that, “in this country you are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than a terrorist.”Lyster asks, though, if owning a gun might give authorities a reason to shoot. She recalls the case of a former Military member residing in Arizona that was surprised by a SWAT team earlier this year. He allegedly had a gun when they stormed into his house, and, though he rightfully owned it, opened fire. “Granted, perhaps he is allowed to do that by law,” says Lyster, “but if he wasn’t pointing an AR-15 at the police when they banged down his door, do you think he’d be alive?'' “I think one of the arguments is you need to be able to protect yourself, but in this case, having a gun — is that what contributed to him being killed?”Do gun rights backfire on people, she asks? “No, I think you can look at a freak case and always make that argument,” responds Kokesh, who says that taking away the Marine’s Second Amendment right wouldn’t solve anything. Rather, it would take the police to reevaluate their policies. Does Bloomberg’s message scare Kokesh? He says he is affected by any tragedy in America that is caused by guns that doesn’t have to happen. “There is a potential for tragedy that this al-Qaeda video points out,” he says, but adds that the logical fallacy behind this would be the equivalent of outlawing air so that terrorists wouldn’t be able to breathe.
