TIME Magazine's Joe Klein appeared on Chris Matthews' weekend show Sunday, where he asserted that it is "crap" and "anti-American" to think the government might become oppressive.

"...What do they need all those bullets for? I guess they just don't feel very strong," he began, laughing as he argued that we have become a "lot more wimpy" as a country because "these gun advocates at the NRA want these semi-automatic weapons."

When Matthews asked how the "cowboy culture" factors in, Klein responded:

Well, I think that that's at the root of it, but there's something else that's going on now that is really, really dangerous, and it's this festering sense that we need to have these semi-automatic weapons because the government in Washington is about to oppress us. [...] And that is paranoia that these groups like the NRA, the Gun Owners of America -- they feed this crap, and it really is anti-American.

Watch the entire exchange via Newsbusters, below:

(H/T: Newsbusters)

-

Related: