Originally published January 15 2013
Larry Pratt calmly schools ignorant Piers Morgan on history, compassion, humanity and freedom
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) It's the least-watched show in its time slot on cable news, according to the latest ratings figures, but that doesn't stop CNN's Piers Morgan from trying to be relevant anyway.
Having landed on a failing network after fleeing his native Great Britain in the wake of an email hacking scandal at a former media employer, Morgan has made a name here by trashing the U.S. Constitution and gun owners in particular by expressing a negative opinion about firearm ownership in a country where he has no say in the matter.
His latest attempt involved a second interview with Gun Owners of America chief Larry Pratt in as many weeks, as the issue of gun control continues to make headlines in the nation's capital and around the country.
The interview began with Morgan showing viewers a clip of his earlier interview with InfoWars.com founder Alex Jones, in which Jones angrily defended Americans' right to keep and bear arms and promised Morgan that most gun owners would never surrender their weapons without a fight.
When the host asked Pratt what he thought about Jones' comments, Pratt only congratulated Morgan for having improved his own demeanor from that previous interview, when the cheeky Brit insulted and denigrated Pratt for his pro-gun stance, even calling him a "very stupid man" at one point.
A well-prepared Pratt
Though not as exercised as he was during that previous interview, Morgan nonetheless continued to try to bait his guest with statements like, "As you know, the Second Amendment specifically applies to 'a well-regulated militia," and questions like, "How many guns do you want in America, Mr. Pratt?"
The Gun Owners of America chief didn't bite; however, and after each loaded question and comment, calmly schooled Morgan both in American constitutional law and tradition.
To Morgan's statement that the Second Amendment applied only to militias, Pratt replied:
You're gonna lose that argument. Increasingly the courts are agreeing that individuals were to own their own military rifles so that if they were called to duty, they would have that to bring with them. That was the Militia Act of 1796, which required all able-bodied men two own a military rifle so that they would have it at the ready were they called up.
'Every American should be able to get an AR-15'
Obviously unhappy with Pratt's very calm, cool, collected - and historically accurate answer - Morgan dryly asked how many guns should be allowed.
"That's not for me to decide, that's for individual Americans to decide," said Pratt.
Morgan shot back, "Do you think every American should have an AR-15?" obviously in reference to one of the weapons used by James Holmes in the Aurora, Colo., shooting last summer and by Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month.
"Every American should be able to get an AR-15," said Pratt. "I understand there are plenty of people that are not going to want that. There are probably people who would rather have a superior firearm. That's their choice."
Morgan next asked Pratt what he would do if President Obama was successful in legislating strict new gun control measures, but here, too, Pratt didn't take the bait:
He's not going to do it by legislative, in my opinion. What I'm concerned about, and what I've been concerned about since even well before the elections, is having seen the president rule by executive order, where he has no authority in other areas. I can see where he would just go ahead - the vice president has even hinted at an executive order that would accomplish some or all of their gun control agenda. That, I think, changes the game and throws into question the legitimacy of the federal government. And I would advise Mr. Obama, what happened to George III when he was doing similar things against the American colonists.
Let's talk humanity
That comparison truly got under Morgan's skin.
"You're likening President Obama to George III?" he asked pointedly.
Pratt:
Well, President Obama hasn't banned the importation of ball and powder yet, which George III did, but that was one of the major contributory elements to our war for independence. And George III, as you probably know, was so stressed by the loss of his famous, favorite colony that he ended his days in a nut house, and I wouldn't wish that on anybody.
At that, Morgan questioned Pratt's "humanity" over his steadfast defense of the right to keep and bear arms, to which Pratt essentially asked where the humanity is in taking away someone's right to self-defense and "waiting for a bullet."
Morgan wound up the interview by trying to pass off gun murder rates in his home country of England - 39 in England and Wales in 2011 - but here, too, Pratt was ready. During the exchange, Pratt said what British newspaper The Independent reported in August 2000 - that "an estimated 1.4 million crimes are going unrecorded by the police every year partly because officers bend the rules to exaggerate their success."
Sources:
http://www.infowars.com
http://youtu.be/rudA9LESQi0
http://www.independent.co.uk
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