Marco Rubio, Florida Senate Candidate, Suggests Iran Needs More Guns

If you are not a regular user of Twitter, you might have some sort of "life," filled with "friends" and "activities," which offers you a sense of "meaning" and "solace" in these uncertain times. But at the same time, you would have almost certainly missed out on the wit and wisdom of Florida senatorial candidate Marco Rubio, who opined, thusly:

I'm nobody's idea of an anti-gun crusader. But when I consider the sorts of things the Iranians could stand to borrow from America, a poorly worded amendment dealing with gun ownership rights and militias is way down the list. I think that maybe Iran could stand to have some separation of powers, a line between church and state, a free press, freedom to worship, the right to assemble, the right to speak freely, a freedom from unlawful searches, due process of law, womens' suffrage, and a government that doesn't terrorize its citizens with armed thugs or threaten its neighbors through terrorist proxies. In short, there's all kinds of stuff I'd commend to Iran from our own body of work. But, yeah, after all that, some guns maybe.

I will, however, commend Rubio's good judgment in that he did not include "#iranelection" or "#neda" on this tweet. This idea probably would not have gone over well with the people following either hashtag.

Anyway, it's symbolic of how much has changed that a conservative now thinks Iran could use more readily available weaponry.

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Comments

[crushinator]

Doesn't anyone have a sense of history here?
We "helped" the mujahideen by giving them aid and GUNS to fight off the evil communists. Then they turned into Al Qeada and attacked us.

If we "help" the Iranian protestors get their own version of the 2nd amendment (i.e. more guns) as Rubio suggests, whose to say that in 5 years those guns won't be turned on us again?

More guns in the hands of ANYONE whose culture and government are based on religious beliefs is absurd. Religion is based on faith, not logic or reason. Do you want guns in the hands of people who cannot be reasoned with?

Until these countries become secular democracies with real freedoms, the last thing they need is more access means of violence.

I am absolutely thrilled that the Iranian people are protesting and really hope that some postive change can come out of it for them. But how can Iran call itself a democracy if it disregards the peoples' vote and then beats and kills its citizens for peacefully protesting?

Side Note: Being a Dem from Florida, I am tired of rigged elections. And if Rubio gets the nomination, I may have to move to a more sane state.

[Gaffmstr]

Well Crushibator,
You have one part right.. they can't call it a democracy ....YET! Don't overlook the fact that our own country began by men with guns who used them to establish their independance.. (fitting that tomorrow is July 4th) With that independance came the freedoms of speach, seperation of church and state, etc, etc, etc. The writer of this article is categorically wrong... How can a citizenry ever surpass a dictatorship to establish democracy if only the dictatorship has guns...

Yes, we did give the Mujahideen guns.. It was a democrat (Charlie Wilson) who did that.. if you read the book or saw the movie there was a detail of that story you may have missed.. Once the soviets were defeated, the CIA warned him that the "Crazies" were flooding into Afghanistan and yet congress totally short sighted, cut off funding and operations. This is the same short sighted approach most Liberals would advocate taking today with Iraq. We Americans like our wars as the first Gulf War... 6 months and done. A couple bombing runs and pull out before it gets messy. You could argue that short sightedness of pulling out too quickly is the reason we are back there. We commit without commitment. If we aid the Iranian people similarly it would require long term involvement to ensure it wouldn't revert right back.

[tubberus]

Kinda related:
http://www.exportlawblog.com/archives/303
if only he didn't get arrested...
He's probably writhing with frustration in jail right now

[zeotrope]

If everyone had guns it would be a blood bath. Just like in Iraq.

[Gaffmstr]

Have you been to Iraq? What blood bath? From what great experience do you speak?
I have been in Iraq and Afganistan. You are a parrot for Leftist Socialists! There are fewer casualties in Iraq after 7 years than there are in just 1 year in the US due to street violence.
The casualty rates for both Iraq and Afghanistan are still only 1/10th what they were in Vietnam and approximately 1/16th of what they were in Korea and only 1/35 of what they were in WWII. Get a grip.

[bruin1954]

I believe Iran already has a 'well armed militia'.

[DeliciousPizza]

I say to you all who turn your noses up at Mr. Rubio's comments that you've forgotten history. Mr. Linkins, you've forgotten your own nation's history. Do you think you would be enjoying "separation of powers, a line between church and state, a free press, freedom to worship, the right to assemble, the right to speak freely...(etc. etc.)" if Paul Revere had said "The British are coming, the British are coming, grab your signs and banners and prepare for a peaceful protest!". I don't like it any more than you do but as Robert A. Heinlein said "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."

Power still comes from the muzzle of a gun and though I'm inspired by and I earnestly hope for the freedom of the Iranian people the fact remains their ruling regime does not and will not respect their wishes for one main reason: they don't have to. As much as the chaos in Tehran has tarnished the corrupt regime's reputation it will not bring the change the Iranian people desire.

[Read Books]

Comment of the day!

I would echo DeliciousPizza's comments by noting the genocide in Sudan was facilitated by the disarmament of the intended victims.

If guns are made illegal for law-abiding citizens, only outlaws and government oppressors will have them. Therefore, Jason Linkins misunderstands causality with respect to gun rights. Those great things Jason desires--like the right to assemble and freedom from unlawful searches--are *enhanced* by gun rights.

If Neda's dad (or other protesters) was armed, he would have the option to prevent her murderer from killing more children! Jason, it is Iranian CITIZENS that could benefit from "more readily available weaponry." Pebbles are ineffective against armed militia and tyrannical governments will not surrender power peacefully.

[roblabrousse]

It's not the 18th century. We are no longer ruled by the British. We were an armed colony. Life was different back then. Wilder.

Iran is in the midst of its' own growth. Its' their culture. Their way of doing things. This election was only meant to be an election . Not a revolution. So you are making judgemnet calls before this is settled. You are saying here have a huge bloodbath and shoot out. Yoiu are saying douse this thing with as much gasoline and set a match to it.

It's none of your business how this get's settled or to say that guns are the way to do it. Force is always the last resort wanted. Forcing democracy an d liberty does not work It worked for the young United States because the division of power was so clear and so faraway. But the Civil War was not such a shining star for this country.

[DeliciousPizza]

When a people is being oppressed by a tyrannical regime it is the business of free people everywhere. Especially given the fact that Iran is surrounded by US military bases and said tyrannical regime is openly seeking nuclear weapons and funding the insurgency that kills our soldiers.

You assume I want a "blood bath" and to "douse this thing with gasoline". I never suggested that. What I would suggest (and assumed it was clear I was suggesting) is that the corrupt regime in power would not have been so quick to manipulate the election results if the citizenry were armed. This is what the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms is all about. It's not based on the idea that the citizenry should rise up and overthrow the government in a bloody coup at the first sign of tyranny. It's based on the idea that an armed citizenry is the best deterrent against tyranny because if it had to rise up, it could. This whole bloody situation could have been avoided if the citizenry were properly armed because the government would be forced to respect the wishes of the people or face serious consequences. Protests are not serious consequences.

Many things have changed since the 18th century, of course, but throwing rocks at uniformed men holding guns is as effective as it was then as it is now.

[WindySailor]

Why don't we just give the protestors nukes?

[henrypapillon]

Iran needs everybody else to keep their nose out of Iran's business right now and we'll be better off and they'll be better off in the end.

[Margo Arrowsmith]

I guess there is little sense of history here. Or knowledge.

http://www.squidoo.com/huffington

[KataVideo]

Iran needs more guns? What happened to all of those guns Ronald Reagan and Ollie North sold to them?

[Teritt]

They snuck them into Iraq to use against us....

[IllinoisTexan43]

Whew! He's from Florida. I just KNEW some half-wit repub from Texas had said that! Glad to have been proven wrong, for once. Now I'm going over to the 'Perry has the hots for Palin' site.;-)

[w8aminute]

Geez - you could have just put C-SPAN on and watch John Cornyn trash Sotomayor

[itolduso]

"some separation of powers, a line between church and state, a free press, freedom to worship, the right to assemble, the right to speak freely, a freedom from unlawful searches, due process of law, womens' suffrage, and a government that doesn't terrorize its citizens with armed thugs or threaten its neighbors through terrorist proxies."....those are all things that Marco 'wingnut' Rubio would like to have less of here in the U.S..... he's a very scarey hard-line conservative

[HisXLNC]

"I think that maybe Iran could stand to have some separation of powers, a line between church and state, a free press, freedom to worship, the right to assemble, the right to speak freely, a freedom from unlawful searches, due process of law, womens' suffrage, and a government that doesn't terrorize its citizens with armed thugs or threaten its neighbors through terrorist proxies."

By asking their local despot nicely?

They've already taken to throwing rocks and all they've received in return is being shot. They should at least have the ability to shoot back. The local government thug may think twice about shooting an unarmed protester if he has to worry about return fire.

[garcia83]

anybody else have any other ideas how peaceful protesters should defend themselves from roaming thugs looking to beat them?

[We-Are-The-Ones]

If a peaceful protest is truly non-violent, then responding with violence is not an option. Take a look at the US Civil Rghts movements, especially with protesters attacked with guns, hoses, dogs, and rabidly violence police. The merely prayed and it is that act of non-violence that shows the gross inhumanity of violence.

There is a wonderful part of MLK's letter from an Alabama jail that highlights the training and questioning they went through to be able to protest peacefully. It was a well thought out strategy. They practiced again and again.

If the Protesters in the US had not been non-violent they would have been slaughtered.

[garcia83]

you know, that's a very poignant point. one i hadn't thought of.

i am wary of looking to history for all our examples in this area, and don't claim to have the right answer. perhaps it is an impulse out of anger and sadness that leads me to conclude these people should carry weapons to defend themselves. ultimately however, that is what i conclude. not one baton swipe against frail women, young kids, or otherwise innocent bystanders should go unanswered.

that said, thank god we have obama at the helm.

[LindaCat]

JPFO has produced a documentary re African-American gun ownership in America. Certainly, without a means of self-defense there would have been wide-spread mass murder of this minority.

[Americanium]

I thought Tax Cuts were more effective?

[Mark Twaine]

What happened to "tax cuts" as the Republican's universal solution to problems?

[Americanium]

Hey are you a mind reader or something?