If R. Lee Ermey doesn’t ring a bell, he was the tough Marine drill sergeant that constantly berated Private Gomer Pyle (played by actor Vincent D’Onofrio) in Full Metal Jacket. Well, he’s also a strong Second Amendment enthusiast, who stopped by Fox and Friends to discuss his show Gunny Time for the Outdoor Channel. According to the website, Ermey focuses on “weapons and weapons technology past, present and future.”
Obviously, while on Fox, the issue of the Second Amendment came up, to which Ermey responded to the liberal nonsense being thrown out there about firearms:
Criminals don’t go to the gun shops to buy their guns. Okay—let’s get this straight right now. The criminals buy their guns off the streets. And there are guns that aren’t legal. I mean, generally—you cannot go into a gun store and walk out with an AK-47. You just can’t do it; it’s against the law. If I’m a crook, if I’m a bad guy, where am I going to commit my crime? I’m going to see this sign that says gun-free zone, and I’m going to sure go in there and rob that store before I would this other one that says we don’t call 911…these thieves and robbers they go into a place because they want to rob you; they don’t go into a place because they want a gun fight. That’s crazy, right? I think everybody should be armed. Every normal, logical, levelheaded individual should be armed.
Now, not to step on Ermey, but you can buy an AK-47 rifle at gun stores. They have to be pre-1986 models, but the first U.S-made models are also available. Ermey was probably referencing that it’s not possible to just go into Cabela’s and buy an automatic firearm, which are heavily regulated, but not banned outright concerning civilian ownership. It’s a months-long process in which you’d have to go through a background check with the ATF, pay the tax stamp, and be placed on a federal registry. Of course, criminals wouldn’t do this. Yet, his channeling of everybody should be armed (hey, why not?) is sure to drive some liberals mad. Nevertheless, there is something to the Robert A. Heinlein saying of “an armed society is a polite society.”