Gohmert Endorses “Second Amendment Solutions” at Arizona Event

Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Lufkin) endorsed armed overthrow of the United States at a conservative event in Arizona this week.

Gohmert has long been one of the most unhinged, but prominent conservatives in America, though he has usually been careful to avoid advocating actual civil war. That appears to have changed. 

The representative and Texas Attorney General candidate was a guest of honor at the Turning Point USA event held in Phoenix on Tuesday along with Tucker Carlson, Sarah Palin, Kyle Rittenhouse, and Donald Trump Jr. The Koch-funded organization is well known for agitating on college campuses and promoting conspiracy theories. 

It’s little wonder that attendees at the event would embrace the Big Lie of the stolen election. Former adviser to Donald Trump Seth Gorka eagerly took the stage to egg on the ground about a possible armed uprising against the duly elected government. 

Later in the halls, reporter Lauren Windsor was able to get footage of Gohmert speaking with fans, including one who openly said he participated in the January 6 attempted coup that left capitol police officers dead. The man thanked Gohmert for his work and asked what more he could have done.

“Yeah, there’s a lot more, but we need a lot more people doing it than just a handful of us,” said Gohmert.

When another man asked Gohmert if the time had come for a “Second Amendment solution,” Gohmert nodded his head and said, “yeah.”

The only possible interpretation of a “Second Amendment solution” is that armed citizens will use their weapons to change the outcome of election and policies that they don’t agree with. This is illegal. There is nothing in the Second Amendment that says citizens have a right to use guns to overturn elections, resist government mandates about health crises, or even hunt for election fraud. 

That Gohmert, a man who is vying for the top law enforcement position in the state, was so quick to agree to vigilante violence on camera is troubling. It’s even more alarming considering that the AG office has become the traditional pipeline to the governor’s office for Texas Republicans. 

It’s no coincidence that the event also featured Kyle Rittenhouse, who has become a right-wing darling after shooting multiple protestors at a racial justice event. Though Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges, his armed presence at an event that ended with left-wing activists dead is a glimpse into the way the right might use “defensive” measures to sow terror among those advocating for social justice. Gohmert’s endorsement of “Second Amendment solutions” coupled with the company he was keeping on Tuesday is a disturbing omen of how me might handle justice in the state if elected attorney general.