Huh. Quite a cogent argument from Ice-T, the self-described “godfather of gangsta rap,” defending Americans’ gun rights following the shooting in Colorado on Friday.

“It’s legal in the United States,” the rapper said. “The right to bear arms is because that’s the last form of defense against tyranny. Not to hunt. It’s to protect yourself from the police.” “And do you see any link between that and this sort of instance?” Guru-Murthy challenged. “No. Not really,” Ice-T responded. “If somebody wants to kill people, they don’t need a gun to do it.” “Makes it easier though, doesn’t it?” the host pushed back. “Not really. You can strap explosives on your body. They do that all the time.”

Well, shoot — he just succinctly summed up what I believe to be two of the most powerful and well-reasoned arguments in support of the Second Amendment. Firstly, yes, if a person wants to go on a murderous rampage, guns can make that endeavor more expedient — but it’s a two-way street. Guns also make defense more expedient. People use guns defensively more frequently than they do to commit crimes, and oftentimes nonviolently so — just letting an intruder or attacker see that you have a gun can be enough.

Secondly, if you ever try to tell me that the United States government could never be capable of nefarious acts of deceit or violence, just because ‘this is America’ and we’re in ‘modern times’ and ‘that could never happen’ or whatever lame reasoning you can think up for not possessing the means to fight tyranny — I will literally laugh in your face. Those are the notions of a spoiled, passive ignoramus who can’t be roused to the reality that liberty requires constant vigilance. Do we really not have enough examples of modern governments suppressing, abusing, and murdering their own unarmed citizens to debunk such a stupidly trusting, falsely comforting perception? A government should always, always, always fear its people — and for that matter, other countries should to some degree fear abusing other peoples, too. I know this quote is unsubstantiated, but I still love it:

“You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.“