Florida man Matt Gaetz is catching a lot of flak over a sex scandal investigation. And if the investigation uncovers wrongdoing, he could be facing serious time. However, the day before the story of the investigation broke, he made a statement to a town hall audience in his district that strikes me as even more troubling because it reveals an unlawful interpretation of the 2nd amendment.
Here’s a link to the video:
Gaetz at town hall on March 31, 2021
If you jump ahead to 11:20 you’ll hear him say
The second amendment is not here for hunting. It’s not here for personal protection. The purpose of the second amendment is so that, if necessary, the people of this country could maintain an armed rebellion against the government. Now you can like that, you can dislike that, you can argue for reformation, but that is what it means.
I have never heard an elected official offer this interpretation of the second amendment in such bold terms. He is validating the paramilitary groups that the US government identifies and tracks as domestic terrorists. In short, Gaetz is perverting the Constitution in order to make common cause with the enemy.
Does Gaetz, who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution the the laws of the US, know that there are laws that prohibit overthrowing the government of the US? And currently, there are a number of individuals under indictment for armed rebellion against the government. In Gaetz’s warped view, the 2nd amendment grants them a free pass from prosecution.
Instead, rather than armed rebellion, the Constitution authorizes peaceful means of reforming a government that has gone off the rails. The election in November 2020 was one of those constitutional means. Gaetz and his mentor in Mara Lago have objected to the outcome of that election and failed; the election was upheld by state legislatures and state and federal courts.
It may be that a sex scandal is what brings down this pompous ass, but the House ethics committee should be investigating him for fostering the dangerous notion that the 2nd amendment enables rebellion.
None dare call it treason?