BELLEVUE, WA – Surgical military strikes over the weekend which have reportedly removed top leaders of the brutal regime in Iran have opened the door for dramatic change, but for it to happen, the millions of Iranians hoping for freedom lack the one essential tool for change, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms observed.
“Iran does not have an equivalent of our sacred Second Amendment,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “and right now, the Iranian people need it bad. For without arms to topple what’s left of a murderous, authoritarian dictatorship, it will be difficult to overthrow the mullahs and their terrorist followers. With firearms, however, the playing field is leveled and the people would have a chance to restore some semblance of civilized government.
“As we noted two months ago,” he added, “reports that several Iranians had been arrested for manufacturing guns sent a signal that the people were preparing to resist with force. Now they have the opportunity, but lacking the arms to take up the fight.
“The Iranian people have lived for more than four decades under a demonic dictatorship which murders dissidents, constantly threatens peace in the region, and exports terrorism across the world,” Gottlieb observed. “In recent months, it has slaughtered protesters, continued to push for the development of nuclear weapons, which would undoubtedly be used against other nations, and tightened its grip on a civilian population which now has the chance to change.
“We have said before,” he recalled, “and we will say it again. The symbol of freedom in a nation of slaves is the gun, because it enshrines the ability of the people to keep government in check. Our founders recognized this 250 years ago, which is why the right of the people to keep and bear arms was ultimately recognized and enumerated in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
“Nothing so clearly underscores the importance of this right than what is now happening in Iran, where marching against tyranny without the means to overthrow it has resulted in little more than body counts,” Gottlieb noted. “An armed citizenry in Iran would be capable of removing the tyrants and restoring stability to the region. Only time will tell the outcome, but our history, and our Constitution—with its protection of the right to keep and bear arms as its cornerstone—can serve as a guidepost for the oppressed people of Iran, who deserve to live free.”