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Have You Seen the Vintage 1989 Video Showing Ron Paul Defending Second Amendment…While Holding an AR-15?

Mar. 7, 2013 1:05pm Mytheos Holt

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul might have made himself a celebrity overnight (and talked through most of that night), but for those Blaze readers who are hardcore libertarian activists and have been following the Paul family not just through Rand, but through the quixotic presidential ambitions of his father, Ron, this story will probably hold just as much interest, if not more.

This week, a vintage clip produced by Free to Choose Network, a libertarian nonprofit best known for producing the 1980 television series of the same name hosted by Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman, emerged. It features the elder Paul while still in his spry years as a then-ex Congressman, talking up the benefits of the Second Amendment, while handling no less a weapon than the AR-15!

Ron Paul Defends Second Amendment in Free to Choose Video From 1989 While Wielding an AR 15

Ron Paul holding a gun in the 1989 video from “Free to Choose”

“This gun sure looks deadly,” Paul says in the video. “But it’s not the least bit deadly unless I point it at someone and pull the trigger. The words of Thomas Jefferson, he said that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, and among those rights is our right to defend ourselves, defend our family, and to defend our property.”

“Our rights are based on a philosophy called the libertarian philosophy,” Paul continues later on. “That means we have a right to own anything we like, including guns, as long as we harm no other person.”

Watch Paul’s long lost segment below:

(H/T: Fox News)

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Comments (51)

heidihoneighbor
Posted on March 8, 2013 at 12:58pm
IIve never found RP sexy until now. Thats a great pic and it seems he was on a roll even back in 1989.

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j_blaze14
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 7:50pm
i agree with everything he said in this video, but its all just logic so the left wont get it.

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- muffythetuffy
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 8:28pm
  WE LOVE YOU DUDE
  
  I have been trying to purchase one of those rifles since Thanksgiving and they no longer exist. If I could fly to Sweden, Norway, Italy, or France I could buy one if a citizen.
  
  Report this comment
- muffythetuffy
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 8:36pm
  THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GAVE ME ONE OF THOSE RIFLES FOR FREE DURING THE VIETNAM WAR. WHILE DEMOCRATS FLED TO CANADA
  
  Now they will make me a dangerous criminal for owning one. We Vietnam suckers fought Lyndon Johnson’s war to make American department stores safe to sell Vietnamese made men’ shirts, slacks and underwear. It has been said that the worst think is to be a friend of America. Being a law biding citizen in America is worst. In the history of Earth, only one government has been know to hate its own people.
  
  Report this comment
TexasToasterStrudel
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 7:27pm
Was that filmed in Lake Jackson?

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I SPY
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 5:01pm
Wow, that video doesn’t look over twenty years old. Time flies.

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joeslick
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:28pm
It could be a Colt “pre-ban” AR. They sported the round fore end.

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Vic Tory
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:19pm
Doesn’t this picture look a lot like the picture of Lee Harvey Oswald holding ‘the’ rifle?

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k8ti
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:17pm
Awesome….good ol’ Ron Paul! Wish more people understood him before this last election. Stupid mainstream media and both GOP and Democrat party made sure he couldn’t get his message out there for people to understand him. Probably because they knew it would mean he would have won, and the federal government’s authority would have been downsized to it’s proper place in accordance with our Constitution. .

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- blanco5
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:43pm
  You summed it up perfectly!
  
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- JohnofOregon
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 10:31pm
  Actually Ron Paul has been more of a psychic, warning of what could happen but supposed conservatives didn’t listen.
  
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Geiner
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:01pm
Come on guys! Am I the only one who noticed that’s not an AR-15 he’s holding, but rather an M-16. Just saying.

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- mason89
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:15pm
  That was the first thing I noticed. That sure as hell is not an AR!
  
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- joeslick
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:16pm
  How can you tell without seeing the selector switch???
  
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- Armyof One
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 5:20pm
  A2 upper, very early AR lower (no raised wall around the magazine release). No auto-sear pin means this is a commercial AR.
  
  NOT an M16A2.
  
  Report this comment
- Paladin45ACP
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 5:27pm
  Geiner
  Wrong. My AR looks exactly like that one!
  
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- sasquatch08
  Posted on March 8, 2013 at 2:00am
  Joeslick is right, the real answer to the internal mechanism in that weapon lies with the selector switch, I blew the video up and watched it repeatedly, with only the right side of the weapon showing, it’s not possible to tell.
  
  Report this comment
- Former11BRAVO
  Posted on March 8, 2013 at 4:18pm
  Nah. There’d be another pin visible if it were select-fire. The full auto trigger assembly needs another pin to hold it, if I’m not mistaken.
  
  Report this comment
V-MindMeld
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 3:58pm
IM liking the Paul’s more and more,,,,but im still not a libertarian….Rand was great.

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- TurboCat
  Posted on March 8, 2013 at 5:11am
  Me too. Hey, Ron, thanks for Rand.
  
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imperative
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 3:30pm
“… the quixotic presidential ambitions of his father, Ron”

Heh, “quixotic”… TheBlaze/Beck sure has a tough time hiding its contempt.

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- DLV
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 3:47pm
  I don’t think it was Beck. IT was probably Holt you know since he wrote the article.
  
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- imperative
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 4:15pm
  @DLV
  
  Yes, in a direct sense, but isn’t Beck ultimately responsible for what is published under his website, much like Ron Paul was held accountable for what was published under his newsletter? (BTW, I like RP, but I don’t accept his “I didn’t know about it” explanation as sufficient.)
  
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- UnreconstructedLibertarian
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 10:42pm
  I would hardly call Ron Paul’s candidacy “quixotic”. If his position on the Constitution is indeed “quixotic” – we’re simply done for.
  
  I think I used the word “quixotic” twice in reference to Progressives in the “Diane Sawyer/Pink Slime” topic – now that was a correct application of the word.
  
  I would absolutely agree its a passive “contempt” by the Beck establishment to characterize Ron Paul as Don Quixote. In which case one has a hard time understanding why they even put up this video clip – because its anything but quixotic.
  
  Report this comment
All Pro
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 3:11pm
Where is time2 hiding? Time to come out of hiding and take your abuse you fascist coward.

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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 8:22pm
  TIME_2_HAS_COME_
  
  Just for you punk…
  
  http://youtu.be/_zfgoJzOCgg
  
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LDLLDL
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 2:57pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Fj5tzuYBE

Anyone with free time, check out more of Free to Choose.

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RedManBlueState
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 2:43pm
Um…. 1989?? Vintage?? Crap, I’m OLD!!!

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LakeHartwellSailor
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 2:03pm
That is sure one scary looking gunny thingy.

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- zorro
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 2:36pm
  Before posting this video, The Blaze should have blacked out that machine gun.
  
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FaithfulFriend
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:52pm
Ron’s right. It sure does look deadly, but it doesn’t look near as deadly as all of mine with their 30 round or beta magazines.

Diane Frankenfeinstein agrees.

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progressiveslayer
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:47pm
Of course Paul is correct on this issue, we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights and they can’t be taken away or limited by government. I don’t care how many gun laws and regulations politicians make up they’re all unconstitutional.

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jackact
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:37pm
Doesn’t this just trump the bare chested Putin photos and Hawaiian Obama surfing photos.
You betcha!
GO RAND!!!….just say you’re sorry about Hagel.

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- DLV
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:43pm
  He shouldnt need to. He stated plain and clear why he allowed Hagel to go through. In the long run, it’s minor and people should just drop it.
  
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republic2011
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:32pm
He is a patriot and I think he would have been infinitely better than Obama or Romney. We could have worked out the foreign policy issues. In my opinion we have more treacherous problems at home that a President Paul would have helped us address. If we are weak here, we are useless against our foreign enemies anyway. Start teaching your children the Constitution. They don’t learn it in school, and without a knowledge of it, they will be lost. Had more people understood the Constitution in 2008 and in 2012 (and before), things would be different.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:27pm
.
I wish Ron was back in his seat. Now we have Randy Webber, and Sen. Mike Jackson. Both usless POS and a waste of good clean breathing air, not to mention tax payer dollars……

Texas Sucks more with them in office…..

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resme
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:23pm
Rand Paul = Ron Paul. Rand Paul has the exact same views as Ron Paul. His approach is different — that’s pretty much it.

I can hear the echoes now ;”Ron Paul said Anyone can own anything at anytime as long as they do not bring harm to another individual — that’s the libertarian philosophy” “Does this mean people can own Nukes and Tanks? — Kooks”

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- C.Gallicchio
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:40pm
  Aye , see comment below :)
  
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- DLV
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:42pm
  Resme- the insane Brother Winston Smith seems to think the two of them are radically different. Soy says Brother Winston is needed to bring “balance”
  
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- resme
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:53pm
  @dlv, I don’t really see Rand as different. He comes off as a bit hawkish and establishment at times. Sometimes our side takes the purist factor to the extreme. Rand talked about how drone attacks kill innocent civilians and create more terrorism. He also questioned the morality of the Iraq, Afghanistan, and drone attacks.
  
  I was sold right then and there.
  
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- resme
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:58pm
  @dlv, Forgot to add — Foreign policy matters a-lot to Libertarians. It’s my deciding factor a-lot of the time…
  
  Do unto others as you would like done to you.
  
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- DLV
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 2:02pm
  resme- I agree with you. But the thing that I think will win Rand over his father in the end will be his approach. As for the purity factor, I could not agree more. Our side condemned Rand for voting for Hagel (which is pretty minor) and now some are going back and saying “Nice job! I love you!” I appreciate the Jesus like purity our side demands but ultimately it is not realistic in the slightest. People aren’t perfect and we need to accept a few faults.
  
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- LakeHartwellSailor
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 2:05pm
  Personally, I think we should be able to own fully automatic weapons. Call me a kook, I really do not care.
  
  Gun Nut & Proud of It!
  
  Report this comment
- resme
  Posted on March 7, 2013 at 2:17pm
  @dlv, Exactly. Threw rand under the bus over a petty issue. These same people never complain when senators/congressman vote the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th amendment right out the window…Obama was going to get who he wanted regardless.
  
  On a side note : It really shows how the media can frame the debate and make you love someone or hate. EX.: Hagel is a Anti-Semite << Hate him. Just a few months ago people did not care about drones. When Anwar Awlaki was killed abroad not a peep ( the media kept quiet ) — Killing an American Citizen was fine then. Now that people feel threatened with their lively-hoods at stake they lash out at the administration in fear ( Would be totally different if it was a republican president — Same with the left).
  
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JoeE71
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:22pm
Amen! Not a huge Ron Paul fan, but the stuff he is right about, he is SPOT ON!

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C.Gallicchio
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:22pm
Violence is only justified upon the infringement of personal or private property rights. At that occurrence I’ll take a M-1 Abrams please. Liberty+Trade = Prosperity

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Excomunicatedmarine
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:21pm
The words of Thomas Jefferson, he said that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, and among those rights is our right to defend ourselves, defend our family, and to defend our property.”

Good enough for me.The 2nd clearly says the right is already there and the constitution simply acknowledges it.

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spudwhite
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:20pm
Yep, this man is not a “sunshine patriot” nor is his son.

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gbfreak
Posted on March 7, 2013 at 1:19pm
Luv it!!!

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