Comedian and manly man Nick Offerman – better known as Ron Swanson of Parks & Recreation – recently appeared at a fancy dinner for the Radio and TV Correspondents Association in Washington, and though he was shorn of his usual bushy facial hair, rocking only some stubble, he still had some very wise things to say.
“Some people assume that because I’m an actor I’m a Democrat,” he said of his political affiliation, “and other people assume that because I like to hunt and build things, I’m a Republican. I am neither. I’m a proud bull moose.” Right. Glad he got that cleared up right away.
Later in his speech, when the topic of guns came up, he held forth in typically dry fashion. “Georgia has adopted some new gun legislation, allowing idiots to openly wield a firearm in church, the post office, bars, movie theaters, the library,” he said, “but not the state house. Basically, any of the places where people are prone to get excited or, well, go postal, except for the lawmakers’ own place of employment.”
He also took issue with the current interpretation of the Second Amendment, which guarantees Americans the right to keep and bear arms. “The Second Amendment allows us to wield guns so we can protect our country from invading armies or our own federal government,” he said. “It’s not there to protect our right to intimidate the teenage cashier at Chipotle.”
He also made reference to the incident last month where a bunch of Texas gun owners held a day of action, during which they brought their guns to fast food restaurants and freaked everybody the fuck out.
“If you have a beef with me, I am going to expect you to try and resolve it using reasonable discourse, using your words and civility. If our tempers are flared past the point of civil discourse, I expect you to challenge me in an honourable contest of fisticuffs like a grown adult. To remove oneself to the safe range of a firearm to settle a dispute in America is nothing short of cowardly.”
“Add the ease of automatic firing capability and I will declare you nothing short of lily-livered. For shame. It’s hard for a man to shoot you when you’re shaking his hand.”
You can watch both parts of Offerman’s speech below:
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez via Getty Images
