Mo Brooks says people need guns to 'take back' the government should it ever turn 'dictatorial'

• Rep. Mo Brooks spoke out against more gun restrictions in the wake of the Texas school shooting.
• He said the Second Amendment ensures that people can take back power from a dictatorial government.

Rep. Mo Brooks said this weekend that he would not support any new gun control restrictions, arguing that people would need their guns if they ever had to take back power from a "dictatorial" government.

"The Second Amendment is designed to help ensure that we, the citizenry, always have the right to take back our government should it become dictatorial," he said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

Sandra Smith, the show's host, had asked Brooks if he was open to changes being made to existing gun laws in the wake of last Tuesday's mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

"As long as we enjoy un-infringed Second Amendment rights, then we don't really have to worry that much about the government ever becoming dictatorial," Brooks said.

"But the moment that we take from our citizenry our ability to take our government back is the moment that the ability of dictatorial forces increases to the point where perhaps they will try to implement a dictatorial government at the federal level," he added.

The congressman — who is running for a Senate seat in Alabama — claimed that the idea of the government turning dictatorial was still "a fear today." Brooks added that he would only consider proposals about guns that guarantee Americans their Second Amendment right to bear and keep firearms.

"If you're talking about depriving people of their Second Amendment right to bear arms, well, first, that's unconstitutional, so you're going to have to address that with a constitutional amendment," he said. "We'll see how Congress and the states react to that kind of measure."

Brooks also recalled a 2017 incident in Alexandria in which he was caught in the crossfire of a shootout at a baseball field. Citing his experience, he said that more needed to be done to "stop the motivation that causes these criminals, these horrific individuals, to do what they do."

People have called on conservative lawmakers like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz to take action to stop gun violence. However, the notion of imposing more restrictions on gun ownership has also received pushback from many figures on the right like Brooks, Cruz, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

However, some lawmakers like GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham have left the door open for a debate on gun control. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also signaled that he would be willing to work with Democratic lawmakers on a bipartisan piece of gun safety legislation, but did not endorse any specific proposals.