The Second Amendment Stance El-Sayed Doesn’t Want Voters to Hear

Michigan’s Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate isn’t making gun control a big part of his campaign, but Abdul El-Sayed has some pretty strong feelings about our right to keep and bear arms. 

As CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski reports, El-Sayed has taken down dozens of videos he posted on YouTube over the last few years because his comments won’t play well with Michigan voters. 

In an April 2023 video, for instance, El-Sayed took aim at the Second Amendment. Though the video has since been made private, a transcript is still available.

Folks who believe in “gun rights,” they lean on the Constitution; specifically the Second Amendment, which they say protects the right to bear arms. Never mind the fact that this wasn’t really about having a gun on your person. Instead, it was about being able to sponsor a militia at the state level to protect against tyranny from the federal government. 

The protection of state-based militias to serve as a check on the federal government was one reason for the Second Amendment, but the right of the people to keep and bear arms wasn’t dependent solely on the existence of the militia. 

After denying that there is an individual right to own and carry a gun, El-Sayed then proposed scrapping the text of the Second Amendment altogether. 

What if we tweaked the Constitution. Amended the amendment, and instead of the right to bear arms we change it to the right to have health care. Imagine what that would mean. That would mean fewer people dying by guns and more people living because they have health care. Maybe two words of a change but it would address two of America’s most pernicious social ills. Literally deadly problems that we could fix with two words, so you should think about it.

Okay, I’ve thought about it… and I think El-Sayed is an idiot for making this suggestion. 

Even if El-Sayed is all in favor of universal healthcare, you don’t need to erase the right to keep and bear arms to add that to the Constitution. What El-Sayed was calling for was an end to the right to keep and bear arms and additionally, the “right” to healthcare. 

In the wake of CNN’s reporting, El-Sayed’s campaign is doing some damage control. 

The YouTube videos, at least 100 of which appear to have been made private, are another example of how El-Sayed’s years as a prolific podcaster, commentator and social-media user have left behind an extensive record — some of it subsequently deleted — that Republicans could use to portray him as both ideologically left-wing and culturally out of step with swing-state voters.

El-Sayed’s campaign said the old clips do not reflect his current views: “Abdul is the former captain of his high school football team, loves Michigan football on Saturdays, and celebrates the Fourth of July with fireworks like the next Michigander. Cherry-picked comments from old podcasts don’t reflect his beliefs today.”

The campaign pointed CNN to a 2025 social media post in which El-Sayed told followers to enjoy the Fourth of July fireworks. It also said he has long argued for immigration reform that keeps the southern border safe and secure and has criticized ICE’s recent actions under the Trump administration. On guns, the campaign said El-Sayed respects the Second Amendment while supporting policies aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

He respects the Second Amendment? When did that happen, because three years ago he certainly didn’t. And what does that “respect” look like in practice? Does he respect the right to purchase and possess semi-automatic centerfire rifles? Does he respect the ability to purchase a firearm without having to go through an arbitrary “cooling off” period? What about the right to carry a firearm across state lines, or without being charged hundreds of dollars for a permit to carry? 

What policies does El-Sayed support that would keep guns out of the hands of criminals without impacting lawful gun owners as well? His campaign website is silent on Second Amendment issues and gun control, though he clearly has some strong opinions about both. 

El-Sayed is smart enough to know that if Michigan voters know he wants to erase the Second Amendment from the Constitution, that position will be political poison. Now he’s trying to run from his contempt for the right to keep and bear arms, but just a few years ago it was on full display… and it will be again if he’s elected to the Senate in November. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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