Sam Harris argues the lack of outrage from gun owners over the killing of Alex Preddy by federal officers reveals a fundamental contradiction. The very people who claim the Second Amendment is a check on government tyranny are silent when that tyranny is enacted by a president they support, suggesting their stance is political, not principled.
Regardless of a suspect's prior behavior or criminal history, the justification for lethal force ends the moment they are disarmed and no longer a threat. Harris emphasizes that in the Alex Preddy case, once officers had removed his weapon and restrained him, the subsequent shooting was an unjustified killing, a principle that transcends the victim's character.
Harris is profoundly disturbed by the immediate, coordinated effort from all levels of the federal government to publicly vilify Alex Preddy after he was killed. He argues that when a government instantly labels a citizen a 'terrorist' and 'assassin' despite conflicting evidence, it's a terrifying sign of authoritarian behavior and a repudiation of due process.
The conversation highlights how urgent, fast-moving political and social fires consume all available public attention and concern. This leaves no bandwidth for slower, more abstract existential risks like climate change, which fall down the priority list because society can't even focus on emergencies that are six months away, let alone decades.