Chris Matthews To Town Hall Protestor: Why Did You Bring A "God Damn Gun" To A Presidential Event? (VIDEO)

On Tuesday's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Matthews' guest was William Kostric, the man who brought a gun earlier in the day to protest President Obama's health care town hall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Kostric was wearing a (legal) handgun strapped to his leg and holding a sign referencing this Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

The segment grew more and more heated as Matthews repeatedly asked Kostric why he came to the meeting wearing a gun. "Well, why did you bring a gun to a Presidential event today?"

"That's not even a relevant question," Kostric said, shrugging. "The question is, why don't people bear arms these days."

"Okay, you bought a sign that said 'The tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants' and you're carrying a god damn gun at a Presidential event. I think those things make people wonder what you're about."

Kostric for his part, was unrepentant, and maintained that he was there in a totally non-violent capacity. "No one from New Hampshire was alarmed. Maybe some of the people they bussed in from Massachusets were alarmed. But we're not really concerned about them."

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Comments

[sej100]

07:27 PM on 08/19/2009

The wrong wing & the NRA are making such fools of themselves.
Bringing guns to bascially threaten the president establishes they are insane and irresponsible and their actions make it MORE IMPORTANT NOW TO BEGIN REGULATING GUN ACCESS IN THIS NATION.

THESE IDIOTS ARE DOING IT TO THEMSELVES,

We the people deserve some safety from the insane. Their actions and statements render them irresponsible and thus a danger.

[BitterCling]

09:53 PM on 08/20/2009

That's funny, I find your statements to be troubling and dangerous. Thank God for the First Amendment, huh? Neat how those rights work, ain't it?

For all the left's shrill whining, for all their dire predictions about blood in the streets and such, NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. Not a single puppy was shot. As icky and scary as guns may be to you, you should bring one very important lesson from all this: Some passionate folks spoke out about what they believe and they were carrying guns, but NOTHING HAPPENED.

Besides, you guys forget that we carry guns all the time, you usually just don't see them.

[TheShootist]

01:35 PM on 08/19/2009

I don't blame Mr. Kostric for bringing a gun to the event...he probably felt a need to protect himself from the mindless Union thugs the DNC bussed in

[BitterCling]

02:35 PM on 08/19/2009

Union thugs tend to be pretty fat and lazy. I wouldn't worry too much about them, but I can understand why he might be a bit uneasy about those chestbeaters.

[BitterCling]

01:18 PM on 08/19/2009

Still no one wants to comment on this story:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/08/17/20090817obama-scene.html

How does that fit in with your racist stereotypes?

[BitterCling]

02:21 AM on 08/19/2009

I can't imagine why my last post was deleted. It did not violate the COC of this site in the slightest. Leftists have made repeated personal attacks and their posts got through mine did not. I was actually starting to believe in the character of this site. I can see that I was wrong. Screw you all. You have no interest in free speech, only the c

[BitterCling]

02:26 AM on 08/19/2009

Errr..... no excuse.

I hadn't finished composing that last post before the missus started into me. Oh, well, I guess you get the point.

[HowthCastle]

07:55 PM on 08/18/2009

Did anybody ever hear of Sirhan Sirhan, Squeaky Fromme, or John Hinkley?

[BitterCling]

01:03 PM on 08/19/2009

There is a critical difference between them and the man in the article: their actions. Liberals just don't get it, do they? One doesn’t preemptively punish people in a free society, which is a good thing because as it turns out, this man WAS NOT A THREAT.

By the way, weren’t all those folks you mentioned left wing extremists?

[jackything]

10:29 PM on 08/19/2009

None of them were left wing extremists...they were all plain, run-of -the-mill nutjobs.

[BitterCling]

11:51 AM on 08/18/2009

I'm getting tired of the same old line from leftists. "Bush, blah, blah, fire can't melt steel, blah, blah, Bush, blah, evil corporations." Don't forget to soil the blood of patriots by hanging your tired old communist rhetoric off of it. None of this has anything to do with the topic at hand. Follow closely so you don't get off track:

Guy had a gun. Gracious, no! Yup, and this is the important part: NOTHING HAPPENED. Despite all your chicken little whining, NOTHING HAPPENED. Despite how you keep whining about the "danger," there was none. How do I know? NOTHING HAPPENED.

As for the sign, I think most people would agree that it was, at the least, in poor taste. He wasn't threatening to kill our president. Do you really believe that a handgun would fare very well against an armored limo at point blank range, let alone a couple hundred yards? Really? Obummer has many policies we strongly disagree with. Some of them are, frankly, chilling in their similarity to historical totalitarian societies and that has some folks a little worried. The tree of liberty doesn't need any watering at this moment, but the sign reminds us how important it is to vote and speak out so that we don't need to kill and die for liberty. It is usually enough to express our displeasure at the ballot box.

[proshot22]

07:14 AM on 08/18/2009

To the man seen with a handgun strapped to his leg, holding a sign referencing the famous Jefferson quote: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

The past eight years, a tyrant stole the tree of liberty and cut it to pieces to give to his highest political donors. While all the patriots were bleeding the sands red in Iraq and Afghanistan.

You, Sir, may think your the patriot, screaming, tea bagging, gun totting with signs near the Commander-In-Chief, while the real patriots are under flag draped coffins.

Their silence says more about patriotism than you ever could.

[bassface49]

12:28 PM on 08/18/2009

Exactly! Hard to take serious those who were deaf for 8 years as the biggest 'redistribution of wealth' in history happened.
Violent revolutions are the MO of elites getting the 'rabble' to do their 'dirty work'.
There is a reason our LIBERAL Founders considered banks more dangerous than 'standing armies'.

[BitterCling]

01:09 PM on 08/19/2009

You’re off topic again. You guys really are obsessed with Bush, aren’t you? In any case conservatives WERE up in arms about the excessive spending, especially towards the end. We were not deaf, or silent, we were simply ignored.

Also, conservatives are not proposing violent insurrection simply because we disagree with the administration on policy. That man was simply warning that the direction we are taking can lead to ugly places.

[VCJ Mc]

11:31 PM on 08/17/2009

The problem with today's guns is the larger number of folk you can shoot, from farther away and with greater speed. When given a chance to carry a high powered automatic I still chose my revolver because of accuracy. And in the split second it takes to lose control and kill doesn't need the weapons most folk are worried about. I have no problem with everyone carrying either but then stop making folk remove their shoes, etc at airports on the minuscule chance you are a potential high-jacker.

BTW, I won't reply to anyone who feels like debating with me.I made my point. Or, hope I did.

Oh and BTW, I would not have carried to a Presidential event of any sort, unless I checked first and found my credentials were approved in advance.

[BitterCling]

01:16 PM on 08/19/2009

The problem with today's digital newspapers is the larger number of people you can reach and the speed with which you can publish your articles.

If the Second Amendment only refers to flintlock muskets, then the First Amendment only applies to quill pens. Clearly, that was not the founders’ intent, was it?

Oh, and BTW, if you feel as though you might lose “control and kill,” then maybe you shouldn’t be carrying. Otherwise I agree with you. Personally, I don’t think I’d carry openly anywhere near the president, if I knew he would be there. Of course, I also have absolutely no interest in being anywhere near that lying prick, anyway.

[VCJ Mc]

11:30 PM on 08/17/2009

Licensed to carry since 1981, learned how to use anything w a trigger or detonator since 1977.
I am against anyone without very very thorough background check carrying anything.
You can kill a person quite easily w/o a weapon. However, when the 2nd amendment was written, they did not foresee automatic weapons. Unless you are law enforcement (and frankly many of them probably shouldn't be armed), you should have to surrender all weapons, You should have to be trained and licensed. Law Enforcement & Military has to go to retraining every year. If you don't qualify, no weapon until you do. You do anything wrong, your license should suspended and ultimately revoked if problem continues.
I have to re-register to drive, after a certain age you must get eyes checked, etc.
My point, either every and anyone carries or go through whatever hoops you have to jump through to be licensed. Furthermore, if you fail more than a couple of times, get keep getting suspended, That's it.

[BitterCling]

05:10 PM on 08/17/2009

Related, please explain:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/08/17/20090817obama-scene.html

[FireBird1]

04:35 PM on 08/17/2009

If it's fine to bring a gun to a public rally, it's reasonable to require the gun holder to pay the cost of the secret service sharpshooters who have to keep a bead lined on them during said time.

[BitterCling]

05:09 PM on 08/17/2009

I'm not following your logic. Are you claiming that if there were no one there openly carrying a firearm, there would be less secret service agents present? What about the folks who are legally carrying concealed? What if no guns were allowed at all, would that stop someone from getting in with a gun? How would it be enforced? Wouldn't it cost more for the manpower and equipment needed to screen thousands and control the flow of people on public sidewalks? I don't get it. Can you please ellaborate?

[Roland Adams]

10:48 PM on 08/17/2009

Just think we have to look forward to the day that our Preschoolers can take guns to school. That will be the day!

[HomeAtWork]

04:18 PM on 08/17/2009

Where were all of these armed Libertarians when the Left was protesting our federal government's exercise of power to pick and choose what wars our citizens must engage in. I don't recall any Libertarians or conservatives speaking out so vehemently against Bush's war in Iraq on the grounds of Sate and Individual rights. I guess they're all OK with that type of Federal spending... as long as guns are involved.

[bassface49]

04:50 PM on 08/17/2009

It's called 'lockstepping' on a testosterone buzz.....and washing it down with 'kool-aid'!

[BitterCling]

05:17 PM on 08/17/2009

I must confess that I've had a tough time rebutting your statements. You have been making use of a very clever and difficult to conter tactic: posting comments replete with such utter nonsense that any logical approach to debate falls flat on its face. Congratulations, good sir, you win this round.

[BitterCling]

04:52 PM on 08/17/2009

Ain't it neat how people can pick which side of a given issue they're on? Probably a touch inconvenient for liberal government control types, but a wonderful thing, nonetheless.

[HomeAtWork]

06:44 PM on 08/17/2009

If one is really serious about achieving political goals, one has to make all kinds of icky bedfellows.. even sometimes dirty filthy pinko commie Liberals and Progressives, when interests intersect.

I wish all the Ron Paul followers would have been more vocal in 2003 and beyond when Bush was going ahead with his war plans and corporate bailouts (paid for by us, thank you). Why so teabaggy just about healthcare, I wonder?

I think Mr. Kostric was just hoping to goad his way into Civil Liberties textbooks. He accomplished nothing except he helped Matthews make a little TV.

[BitterCling]

01:37 PM on 08/17/2009

At the risk of making liberal heads explode:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2009/08/17/20090817obama-scene.html

An evil, black rifle and a man that does not fit racist liberal stereotypes all in the same photo, good luck, guys. Be sure to take your blood pressure medicine.

[BitterCling]

01:54 PM on 08/17/2009

Oh, by the way, the man in the article above appears to have been SUPPORTING Obamacare.

How are your liberal sterotypes holding up?

[bassface49]

04:12 PM on 08/17/2009

'stupid is as stupid does....'
make liberals head explo.......LOLOLOLOL
the looser party is trying to make our heads explode?
That WAS your IQ and NOT your shoe size after all...
Your shovel in the shop?

[BitterCling]

04:58 PM on 08/17/2009

I’m sure your fellow liberals are just tickled pink to see you representing the party this way, bassface. You are and excellent spokesperson, please, please, please continue posting.

[Roland Adams]

02:52 PM on 08/18/2009

Ad hominem attacks weaken your argument.

Along with the double talk. Either you follow the constitution to the letter or you consider that the founding fathers during the "age of enlightenment" knew that change was afoot, and the Constitution was a guide not a jail cell.

Do you seriously think that the founding fathers envisioned a tank and a howitzer for every citizen. Stop fooling yourself.

You wrote "People should only be restricted from doing that which actually harms or obstructs the rights of other people. " So I suppose that makes you an anarchist now? I am starting to fear that there are those with two voices in their head, and those voices do nothing but argue.

[rich misty]

03:00 PM on 08/15/2009

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/anti-health-care-reform-protester-encourages-physical-violence-use-of-firearms.php

This is what Conservatives are cheering on this thread.

[BitterCling]

09:43 PM on 08/16/2009

You've been busy while I was gone! Drove up to Laughlin this weekend (had a great time, btw).

As I mention, further down the page, it seems you're only capable of presenting logical fallacies in this case, we have the triple combo of the strawman (fake argument), the ad hominem (personal attack having nothing to do with merits of the argument) and the closely related poisoning of the well ("don't listen Joe Smith, he's an adulterer"). Worse, you seem to consider yourself clever because you read what one liberal extremist writes about a conservative (right wing, really, though I can't expect you to understand the subtle difference) extremist and you apply it to all conservatives.

It's not as clever as you think it is and I doubt anybody is buying your crap.

[BitterCling]

10:06 PM on 08/16/2009

I just realized many people won't read all of my above post. Here are the Cliff's Notes:

Linking to a leftist blog making extreme accusations about right wing conservatives and painting all conservatives with the same broad brush isn't a legitimate tactic.

P.S., I read your bio. Why are you afraid of honest debate?

[rich misty]

12:16 PM on 08/15/2009

Sivispacemparabellum: Right , just like 911 was all Bush's fault to .
--------

Not that this is on topic, but it needs to be addressed where people can see it:

According to their own document, Rebuilding America’s Defenses ( .pdf format ) their stated goals would never be realized “absent some catastrophic catalyzing event –like a new Pearl Harbor”. (page 63). http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

The bottom of the page ^ lists the signatories.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB116/pdb8-6-2001.pdf

The PDB memo from the National Security Archive ^

Bush got the warning, he derided the agent briefing him, and patiently ignored the memo.

[Emerald1943]

01:01 PM on 08/15/2009

Mornin', rich! Hope you are well!

I'm saving this to read later. Thanks for the post!

[rich misty]

01:08 PM on 08/15/2009

Thank you, I wandered in here and found radical right wing extremists posting so I had to clear a few things up.