ATF Director Robert Cekada: Second Amendment Created to Allow Citizens to ‘Protect Themselves from a Tyrannical Government’

During Thursday’s House Oversight Committee hearing regarding “Privacy Protections and the Second Amendment,” ATF Director Robert Cekada said the Second Amendment was written so citizens could “protect themselves from a tyrannical government.”

Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) asked Cekada if he “found it notable” that the Founding Fathers made sure to place the protection of gun rights — aka, the Second Amendment — right after the protection of speech contained in the First Amendment.

Cekada answered in the affirmative.

WATCH:

Crane then asked, “Why do you believe the Founders wanted to give the citizens the right to defend themselves?”

Cekada responded, “I think, at that time in particular, the citizenry did not have a guarantee that the government would protect them and they wanted to have the opportunity to protect themselves against a tyrannical government.”

On July 6, 2014, Breitbart News pointed to Federalist 46, where Founding Father James Madison — the author of the Second Amendment — stressed that one of the strongest checks on federal tyranny — if not the single strongest check — is an armed citizenry. He boiled down differences between Americans and their European counterparts by explaining that Americans could unite to stop a federal government intent on using military force to topple State power. Disarmed Europeans had no such option.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.