Joseph Gerth

Opinion Columnist | Louisville Courier Journal

U.S. Sen Rand Paul may have been the only speaker at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum in Louisville to give President Barack Obama credit for being right about anything. Or, half right.

“He derisively referred to many of us clinging to our guns and our religion. He got it half-right,” said Paul. “I say we’re clinging to our guns, our religion and our ammunition.”

Paul said that gun rights are under assault from progressives. “It’s as if the other side doesn’t even think there is a Second Amendment,” he said.

He said the Second Amendment is vital to the Bill of Rights. “Our defense of the Second Amendment should always remind liberals that the right to bear arms is right next to the right to free speech, to the right to practice your religion and the right to freely associate with your friends and neighbors,” he said.

“We should never let them relegate the second amendment to any second tier or rights,” Paul said.

He called on the NRA to also defend the First Amendment. “If we diminish one iota the right to free speech, we risk not having the voice to defend the right to bear arms,” Paul said.

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