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

[forza]

this guy was part of the republican party that voted for shorter hours for voting

thank jebus (R)Governor Charlie Crist signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General election in florida

robio is a hawk

this is why he must go away florida is purging repugs finally

[greatscot]

When the Denver cops were gassing and bashing during the Republican convention a few months ago, that would have been just the thing for those getting their heads bashed to bring in a few guns! Same thing for the anti-war protesters who were gassed, beaten, rounded up and caged without charges for days by New York's finest , in a filthy open-air muni bus parking area, during the Republican convention in 2004. Great thinking there Mr. Rubio! Absolutely topper! I can see you're ready for high office. A brain like yours shouldn't be allowed to go to waste! Let's see, in the municipal area, we've got meter reader or doggie-park attendant available! Apply today!

[Levittown]

Mr.Rubio is Pro Life which is a cover up word for don't let women decide about their own bodies. He would have kept the vote from them and whatever else makes them second class citizens. He the last one to talk about liberties for all.

[Lefty83]

I bet I know why right wing men are so obsessed with guns. They have to compensate for something they lack...in size.

[Tommygun264]

That's just what they need in the Middle-East: more guns.

[skyslimit]

And when the republicans steal the next election, we'll be glad we have more guns here!

[mick7191]

It's typical for the Deliverence Wing of the republican party to call for more guns. Haven't we provided enough for the Mexican drug cartels?

[barkrudedog69]

Do your fact check on that one. Yes there has been guns going over from America but the majority of the weapons have not been US made. That was a media ploy.

[LDS50]

90% of the guns submitted by Mexican officials for tracing were from the US. Mexican officials submit approximately 1/3 of the total that they confiscate. So do they pick out the "American" guns for submission or is this a representative sample. No one knows - but it's still a sh* t load of guns from the US.

[Mitsy]

Is that the Republican's answer to all the world's unrests? Give them guns? And after the guns, then waht? Wars? and more wars? People using guns on their own people? gunmen taking over, innocent dying in these countries? Just another ploy for these countries to be depleted of all the reliable sources and then to rely on the IMF and Aid from America to support their war ravaged countries, because of the GUNS that are supplied to them by America.

Watch too mnay John Wayne movies if you asked me! Marco, get your head out of the sand and place your self in another country's shoes...Sheees!

[barkrudedog69]

and Russia and the KGB? Where was Iran's leader right after the election?

[LDS50]

If everyone had a gun, what a wonderful world this would be! ::hearts & roses::

[DiogenesII]

Seriously...Self inflicted wound of a mindless mote...

[drh002]

If you have an armed general population it makes revolutions much easier to organize against a tyrannical government.

I mean if that wasn't the case why did Hitler, Mussolini, and Lenin make it illegal for private citizens to possess firearms?

And besides Iran's government is a theocracy and therefore has no possibility of separating church (mosque?) and state so that little regarding separation is a moot point.

[Lefty83]

It wasn't Hitler that banned guns, it was the Weimer government years before he came to power.

[Sarijj]

One of the biggest reason's civil war is going on in Iraq is because citizens have guns and look where this is getting them.
Guns are not the answer. Mass strikes work much more effectively. look at India, they were able to over throw British rule without resorting to violence. Guns are not always the answer.

[MajorKong]

Gun ownership was very common in Iraq prior to 2003. It neither prevented a dictatorship nor a foreign invasion.

[ls1z28chris]

I love how liberals believe in every Amendment but the second. "Waaa. It's poorly worded." Not exactly. The Second Amendment is worded very clearly. A prefatory clause followed by an operative clause. Simple stuff.

Sure, Iran could use some human rights like due process and freedom of speech, but life, liberty and property mean nothing if they are easily deprived by tyrants or thugs. The Second Amendment is what ensures that our rights continue to have meaning and cannot be easily deprived. Without the means to protect our rights, there are no rights. They're just words on paper.

[TexasDem0]

ls1z28chris - You're correct. The Second Amendment is worded very clearly.

“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.”

The National Guard can trace its roots back to the colonial militia, who were citizens that answered to civil authority as first responders to emergencies. Where does it say anything about bearing arms for purposes other than the militia?

[LDS50]

Yep looks clear to me. No "right" to a personal uzi there.

[luvronpaul]

Great point, I agree!

[Sarijj]

Well said. Many people don't have a clue as to what the amendment really says and means but wow do they like to shoot their mouth off as if they do!

ls1z28chris please read the amendments before talking about them.

[LindaCat]

It doesn't say the 'right of the militia' nor 'the right of the states' but 'the right of the people'. It does not specify nor restrict to the non-existent-at-that-time National Guard. SCOTUS discussed all this last year.

[DiogenesII]

You're shooting blanks...You need to reload..Suggest you start with your brain. That would
be the prefatorial imperative...The term of art would be mental sufficiency, also known as
common sense. A scarce commodity these days, but even a paucity would elevate your
"object" poverty.

[ropadopa]

The means to protect our rights is called a vote this is the greatest protection against tyranny. The Second Amendment as it stands today is mostly a convenient political tool, used to manipulate sectors of the society. Most "liberals" are not against gun ownership but against the wanton proliferation of guns and for proper checks and balances with respect to the ownership of guns.

[LDS50]

In Arizona, we do not yet have a state budget, buy yet our illustrious republican leg. has just proposed a bill to allow anyone to purchase and carry a concealed weapon. McCain is truly a moderate in these here parts. Our state gov. will cease to operate July 1.

[MajorKong]

I love how conservatives care about no Amendment BUT the second.

[dannyo152]

And some gun advocates treat the Second Amendment as the only one that may not be regulated in any way.

The Constitution does not state there is a right to insurrection. The first premise of American freedom is that certain rights are inalienable, they exist before there is a government. There is a social compact, where some individual freedom is traded for the benefits of an organization to provide for the general welfare, domestic order, and mutual defense. Consent confers legitimacy.

That doesn't mean that everyone agrees all the time and/or is allowed to resist government unilaterally. If history shows us anything, any time someone has used a gun to redress a grievance, they found ten guns pointed at them and were killed or imprisoned. John Brown, slave insurrections in the pre-war south, the Black Panthers, the Whiskey Rebellion, The War Between the States, the assassins of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Deprivation of inalienable rights is not an allowed defense in court, if it ever gets that far.

The way the framers understood history, the tyrants of concern were those like Julius Caesar, who rose via popularity and turned a Republic into an Empire. No system is immune to carelessness or the impurity of men's motives, ethics, and morals, but the delineation of responsibilities, separation of powers, scheduled elections, etc., were the impediments to tyrrany. Not the giving every one a gun and letting them vote by bullet.

[TexasDem0]

Right, Marco! Why don't you deliver one personally?

[tomasedison]

PATHETIC but.................so republican...........

[Rayme]

So freedom loving American ... Go Marco:)

[ropadopa]

Every American I have ever know was freedom loving. This has nothing to do with silly platitudes. What about the freedoms that other Americans yearn for such as: freedom to marry whoever they are in love with; freedom to use marijuana because they are responsible adults; freedom to travel to any country they want to because they are American. Would Margo in his goings on fight for these freedoms too?

[jimfl]

Marco Rubio another rising star in the GOP. Did he get pass the sixth grade?

[Dbos]

Reagan thought so too-Iran contra

[grdavis1019]

Trying to shore up NRA money for this campaign. Shameless I D I O T

[garcia83]

ok ok ok. towards a common ground, i am going to acknowledge the other side's point that: no, guns will not solve the problem in Iran. there is not much a bullet can do against a tank.

but i can tell you this much, the day that anyone would savagely attack my family, friends, or myself for nonviolently protesting a rigged election is the day that that person becomes my target practice.

i will defend myself and those i love to the death, and there is no reason iranians should be denied that ability if the cause is just; "just" being defined in the sense of the democratic ideals which this farce of an election alleged to behold.

jason's alternative is a bit illusory when the people aren't even allowed to be outside. draft a constitution on twitter if you think you've got it solved.

[ropadopa]

Just doesn't make much sense anyway you put it and the thought is just shallow and aimed at cozying up to the NRA. As a father I am prepared to defend my family with or without guns. We have thousands of guns and ammunition in Mexico and daily innocent people are being slaughtered by drug gangs and the same can be said for Haiti. Mr. Rubio will have to start enunciating real ideas before the label of intellectual lightweight takes a hold.