Sam Harris Calls Out Gun Culture Over Pretti Shooting

In a recent sit-down with Don Lemon, neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris didn’t just talk about media, democracy, or polarization. He went straight at gun culture.

Harris described America’s political environment as a “hallucination machine,” arguing that large segments of the country no longer share the same basic facts. But when the conversation turned to the Second Amendment, things got sharper.

Referring to a recent controversial shooting involving federal law enforcement (Pretti shooting), Harris said what stunned him wasn’t just the incident. But what he sees as silence from gun culture.

“We have millions… for whom the Second Amendment is just the central plank of their political religion,” Harris said. “When you ask proper gun nuts why they have guns… it’s always a story about the need to protect yourself against a government that grows tyrannical.”

Then he posed the implicit challenge.

If armed citizens often say the Second Amendment exists as a safeguard against federal overreach, Harris asked, where is that energy now?

He argued that had similar actions occurred under a left-leaning administration, the reaction from gun owners would likely have been explosive, possibly even involving armed protests.

“If this had occurred under the Biden administration or a Kamala Harris administration — or say nothing of a Barack Obama administration — I mean, you would see something like an insurrection,” he argued. “At a minimum, you would see every deployment of ICE and Border Patrol shadowed by hundreds of guys carrying AR-15s in protest, right?”

“There’s no way gun culture would have taken this from a left-leaning administration,” Harris said. “It’s unthinkable — unless they’re all total hypocrites.”

He also criticized what he sees as hyper-partisan blind spots, saying Americans routinely excuse behavior from “their side” that they would condemn from political opponents.

The broader point, according to Harris, isn’t just about guns. It’s about integrity and consistency. If the Second Amendment is truly about checking government power, he suggests, that principle should apply regardless of who occupies the White House.

Of course, many in the 2A community would push back hard.

Some would argue Harris misunderstands both gun culture and constitutionalism. Others would say selective media framing, legal nuances, and facts surrounding specific incidents matter more than sweeping philosophical takes. And still others might argue that the Second Amendment isn’t a blank check for confrontation but a safeguard grounded in law, federalism, and due process.

So here’s the question for readers:

Does Sam Harris have a point about selective outrage and partisan blind spots within gun culture? Or is he flattening a complex issue into a political talking point?

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