Why Does Harvard Law Prof. Say It's 'Racist and Bigoted' to Call Guns 'Quintessentially American'?

Adding to the long line of things that have been deemed "racist" by those on the left (think: peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, or almost anything Chris Matthews sees), Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz appeared on CNN with Piers Morgan Monday to discuss the gun control debate currently gripping the United States.

Appearing soon after Infowars' Alex Jones went ballistic defending the 2nd Amendment-- shouting, hollering, and even threatening that "1776" would "commence again" if the administration came after people's firearms-- the two spent several minutes discussing how important it is that rational, reasonable CNN-viewers see Jones' hysteria.

After Morgan lamented the amount of influence wielded by organizations like the NRA, Dershowitz launched into a spiel of his own, where he eventually argued that it is "racist" to say that guns are "quintessentially American":

I don't think it's the NRA power [that's the problem]. I think it's people like us, not the two of us, but Americans who care about guns [who] aren't doing enough to make our case to the public.

...We've given that issue over to them because they have lobbyists they pay money. But in the end, the people determine the outcome.  And it's wrong, and it's racist and it's bigoted to say that guns are quintessentially American.  They may represent a part of America, but my grandparents, who came over from Poland and live in Brooklyn, New York, are just as much Americans --people who came over from Ireland, people who came over from Italy -- we're just as much Americans.  We live on the coast and we have a right to define the America we want to live in and we have the obligation to win politically, to vote for people to put gun control as a high priority.  [Emphasis added]

Presumably, though, when people say that guns are part of the American culture, they are not referring to whether people's ancestors possessed a firearm, but to the Bill of Rights.

Watch the entire segment, below ("racist and bigoted" comments around 4:45):

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Related:

• Iowa Lawmaker: Ban Semi-Automatic Weapons, Then 'Start Taking Them' From Gun Owners if Needed
• Gawker Publishes Complete, 446-Page List of 'All the A**holes Who Own Guns in New York City'
• Alex Jones Goes Ballistic Debating Gun Control With Piers Morgan: '1776 Will Commence Again if You Try to Take Our Firearms!'