Chris Murphy’s threat of a “popular revolt” endangers Americans.

Senator Chris Murphy’s Dangerous Rhetoric

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is revealing his true colors and they’re not flattering. Murphy was a guest on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday when he ominously and recklessly warned of a “popular revolt” if the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t rubber-stamp an unconstitutional gun control agenda that he and the Biden administration are attempting to force on the American people.

This dangerous rhetoric would be labeled “seditious” or “treasonous” had a Republican lawmaker uttered it. So far, there has been deafening silence by those same lawmakers that rightfully decried the Jan. 6 violence on Capitol Hill. That doesn’t excuse the senator’s remarks that seem to offer a wink-and-a-nod to those who would seize the moment to lash out at best or at worst invite and incite violence against the government institutions that protect the rights of American people.

Murphy’s Insolent Response

Murphy was asked for his reaction to a Virginia federal court’s ruling that a federal law barring the sale of handguns to adults under 21 is unconstitutional. The judge found that age-based restrictions  “do not exist with other constitutional guarantees.” The judge correctly applied the history and tradition test as set by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bruen. Murphy chose to respond as an insolent child rather than as the statesman he purports to be and who swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies — foreign and domestic.

“If the Supreme Court eventually says that states or the Congress can’t pass universal background checks or can’t take these assault weapons off the streets, I think there’s going to be a popular revolt over that policy,” he said.

The Root of Murphy’s Frustration

In all honesty, Murphy’s angst isn’t so much with the Supreme Court as it is with the U.S. Constitution. The fact the Second Amendment exists to protect the pre-existing right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms against a tyrannical government that would disbar them of the means to protect themselves is the root of the senator’s frustration. Without that explicit guarantee, gun control special interests and antigun politicians like Murphy would have stripped Americans of lawfully owned and possessed firearms decades ago.

Misrepresenting Firearms

Murphy and his antigun colleagues purposefully misrepresent the firearms as “assault weapons” but they know that’s a politically manufactured term to demonize the firearm. The left’s newest demonizing moniker is the focus-group-tested “weapons of war.”

Threatening the Supreme Court

Murphy’s veiled threats against the U.S. Supreme Court weren’t the only thing. He seized the opportunity to denigrate the court’s role.

“A court that’s already pretty illegitimate is going to be in full crisis mode,” Murphy added in his “Meet the Press” interview.

Murphy joins a growing and disturbing chorus of lawmakers — particularly senators — to target the Supreme Court actively and passively over frustrations that the justices aren’t political theater pawns.

Inviting Violence

Murphy’s thoughtless threat of “popular revolt” threatens the American public. Inviting the American public to commit to a “popular revolt” for the cause of gun control is insanity. The Second Amendment protects against a tyrannical government that oppresses the will of a free people. Stirring those who oppose lawful firearm ownership and a Constitutionally-protected industry that provides the means to exercise fundamental rights is beyond irresponsible. It is inciting violence and provoking a potentially violent confrontation.

The American public deserves better. These invitations for “popular revolt” because the Supreme Court upholds rights protected by the Constitution are incendiary. Murphy must put down the matches when he walks into a room of powder kegs.

Lawrence G. Keane is a senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.