French ambassador demonstrates stunning stupidity in asserting that citizens are incapable of using firearms in self-defense

Wednesday, December 09, 2015 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: gun control, mass shootings, self-defense

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(NaturalNews) I have a "friend" on social media who is German and we often disagree (civil disagreement – no SHOUTING or #idiot kind of stuff) about the parameters of American constitutional rights, and in particular, our Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms."

It's a cultural thing, to be sure, since Europeans, by and large, do not enjoy broad gun ownership rights, so she is often on the side of President Obama and other liberal American politicians who think banning guns and taking away a citizen's right to protect him- or herself is the best way to ensure personal and public safety. She especially feels that way after mass shootings like those that have been occurring on a too-frequent basis (more on that in a moment).

Again, this is just a cultural thing, but my German friend has difficulty grasping the concept of using a firearm for personal defense as a basic human right. Most Europeans do, and when there are mass shootings in the U.S., Europeans tend to be very critical of our "stubbornness" and "refusal" to give up our gun rights.

But few of them are serious students of the American Constitution and its ratification process, so they don't fully understand that our founders wanted the American citizenry to be armed primarily as a check against tyrannical government. Nor do Europeans know or understood that our founders saw firearm ownership for self-defense as an important individual liberty and an inalienable right.

The wolf at the door

This cultural disconnect manifested itself recently during an interview between the French Ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, and the Fox News Channel's "Special Report," in which the ambassador was given an opportunity to defend a tweet he had sent in response to GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, in the immediate aftermath of the horrific Paris terrorist attacks in mid-November.

In responding to Trump, Araud described him as a "vulture" for a tweet the billionaire real estate developer made earlier this year, following the January terrorist attack on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

As reported by Breitbart News, the ambassador acknowledged that he eventually deleted the tweet, explaining that it was sent in the emotional heat of the moment as his home nation was still coming to grips with the attack. However, he reiterated the sentiment he initially espoused, which is that guns are used by people to defend themselves "only in the movies."

"Well, actually I received this message just as the moment we were under the shock of the attack," Araud said. "So I am a fighter and I am a diplomat, so I decided to respond the way you did, but actually I erased the tweet I think 10 minutes later, saying it's of no use."

"But of course, I am supporting of the substance of it," he went on. "It doesn't makes [sic] sense. It was a theater, a theater hall. Imagine a theater hall and suddenly people enter with machine guns and are really killing people ... It is only in the movies someone is using his gun to defend himself."

Guns in the hands of good people are a great thing

That's absurd, and most Americans would beg to differ. In fact, just a cursory search online reveals that statement is factually incorrect (here, here, here and even children, here).

In fact, in the U.S., guns are used very frequently to fend off violence.

That said, Europeans don't seem to be as concerned about personal protection, and are a lot more willing to trust their respective central governments to protect them, even with terrorists in their midst.

That's their prerogative. It's their continent. Culturally, they and we are far apart on this issue and are likely to remain so. But as for asserting that we should not have our guns in our hands to protect ourselves? That's just incorrect.

Look, it would be nice if the world was devoid of bad people, but that's just not reality and it never will be. Our founders – all Europeans at one time – keenly understood that.

Sources:

Breitbart.com

Bugout.news

Guns.news

LearnAboutGuns.com