SHAPIRO:
I think that the reason it’s about left and right here is because fundamentally
the right believes the basis for the second amendment, and they believe in the Second
Amendment. The basis of the Second Amendment is not really about self defense
and it's not about hunting. It's about resistance to government tyranny. That's
what the Founders said and that’s what the right believes in this country.
MORGAN:
Which tyranny are you fearing, yourself?
SHAPIRO:
I fear the possibility of a tyranny rising in the country in the next 50 to 100
years. Let me tell you something, Piers. The fact that my grandparents and
great-grandparents in Europe didn’t fear that is why they're now ashes in
Europe. This kind of leftist revisionist history where there's no fear of
democracy going usurpatious or tyrannical, is just that. It's fictitious.
. . . . . . . . . .
MORGAN:
— An average civilian ... Why do they need one? [an AR-15]
SHAPIRO:
To protect against the possibility of eventual government tyranny. This was the
purpose of the second amendment originally. It remains the purpose of the
second amendment now, and pretending that governments have never gone
userpatious before from a democratic position –
MORGAN:
Do you believe your own government is going to turn on you in a way that you
require an AR-15 to challenge them?
SHAPIRO:
It may not turn on me. It may not turn on my children.
MORGAN:
— in modern day America, is that what you think?
SHAPIRO:
They may not turn on me, they may not turn on my children. But the fact is
this; history is replete with democracies going tyrannical. It happened in
France in the 19th century, in Spain in the last century, happened in Germany,
in Italy. It has happened repeatedly, it has happened in Japan –
MORGAN:
So the reason we cannot remove assault weapons is because of the threat of your
own government turning on you in a tyrannical way.
