Lindsey Graham Vows to Draw a Line in the Sand, Put Every Senator's 2nd Amendment Stance 'On the Record'
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina reiterated his unwavering support for the Second Amendment while firing off practice rounds at a local shooting range.
The U.S. Air Force veteran and attorney said it’s more important than ever to protect our right to own firearms for self-defense amid the left’s rabid push to defund the police and open our borders to armies of unvetted migrants.
“In South Carolina, we take seriously the right to bear arms, but also the responsibility that comes from owning a weapon,” Graham said in a news conference during a visit to the Palmetto State Armory in Greenville on Thursday, WYFF-TV reported.
The senator noted that Democrats who relentlessly push for gun control and screech about border walls being “racist” are the same ones who live in gated communities protected by armed guards.
“It’s the liberal elite who are able to live in a security environment the average person can’t have,” he pointed out. “All the people talking about taking your guns away have armed guards around them.”
Criminals are increasingly ruling the streets of Democrat-run cities such as Chicago, San Francisco and New York because lawless thugs are being enabled by liberals who do more to protect them than law-abiding citizens.
Therefore, Graham said, it’s critical that Americans feel they are able to protect themselves when law enforcement is unable to.
**NYPD UNDER ATTACK!!!
Three officers violently attacked by protesters crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. They sustained serious injuries
Where is @NYGovCuomo ?? We already know worthless @NYCMayor is too busy painting BLM murals & defunding the police..pic.twitter.com/ZuC48ZaUCg
— ??????? ??? (@my3monkees) July 15, 2020
“We live in a world where law and order are breaking down all too often,” he said.
“Self-defense is one of the fundamental rights associated with the Second Amendment. Most people in South Carolina who buy a gun will tell you one of the reasons they have a weapon is for self-defense purposes.”
Graham said in South Carolina this year, three people — mostly senior citizens — could’ve been killed had they not been able to protect themselves.
“Women would be raped and people would be killed time and time again without the ability to defend themselves,” he warned. “This is not fearmongering. This actually happens.”
The senator pointed to the following recent instances where civilians protected themselves with their guns:
- An 82-year-old veteran in Aiken shot an intruder who stabbed his wife after breaking into their home.
- A homeowner in Iva shot an intruder during a home invasion.
- A barbershop employee in Columbia used his legal firearm to stop a robbery.
Graham said the only thing that more “gun control” laws do is restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. Why? Because criminals don’t follow laws anyway and always manage to get their hands on a gun.
“In 1994, there was an Assault Weapons Ban — the evidence indicates that there was really no change at all in crime, because the crooks are going to get a gun!” he tweeted.
In 1994, there was an Assault Weapons Ban – the evidence indicates that there was really no change at all in crime, because the crooks are going to get a gun!
Today at @PalmettoArmory I fired one of the weapons they are trying to ban. #2A pic.twitter.com/XI985BZ96F
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 1, 2021
Reminder: Shootings and gun homicides are skyrocketing in Democrat-run Chicago even though it has among the strictest gun-control laws in the country.
Democrats’ silence on this recurring weekly phenomenon is deafening.
[firefly_poll]
Graham continued: “If there is a breakdown of law and order, and that can happen — we’ve seen it happen in our major cities. Remember [Hurricane] Hugo, where people were isolated for days? Remember Katrina?
“It’s not impossible to find yourself in the modern world without any police protection, because that’s just the way the times are in which we live in. We’re talking about defunding the police!”
It’s not impossible to find yourself in the modern world without any police protection, because that’s just the way the times are in which we live in.
We’re talking about defunding the police!
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 1, 2021
Graham said he will oppose any move by the Biden administration to ban assault weapons but wants to fully debate the issue on the Senate floor so voters can see where their senators stand on the issue of self-defense.
“Let’s bring them all to the floor,” he said. “Let’s vote. Maybe we can find some compromise, but I want to put every United States senator on the record as to where they stand on the Second Amendment. I think the voters in 2022 need to understand this.”
Graham pointed out that in dictatorships, the first thing despots do is take guns away from the people so they can’t protect themselves. This is a dangerous slippery slope the United States should never go down, he warned.
“One of the things about our Constitution is that we understood early on that if you live in a dictatorship — or in places where the government runs everything — the first thing they take away from you is not just your speech but your ability to defend yourself,” the senator explained.
“That’s why the Second Amendment exists. The ability to own a gun responsibly is a constitutional right in America, and here’s what I would say: We need that right today, as much as any other time in American history.”
Media is acting like none of this ever happened. That Democrat, BLM, and Antifa rioters didn’t literally set dozens of cities on fire, destroy thousands of small businesses, and tens of innocents died in the process. Not a single Dem official condemned it.pic.twitter.com/335zlCNWZL
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) January 17, 2021
Given how unstable the country is due to the alarming success of Black Lives Matters‘ toxic “defund the police” hysteria and the mass influx of illegal aliens bombarding the nation, Graham is right: Americans need the Second Amendment now more than ever before.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
