Yesterday, I was on the French24 news program “The Debate,” alongside Eugene Volokh, Amy Greene, and Charlotte Recoquillon. The video is available here, or embedded below. From my perspective, the most interesting exchange occurred around 12:00 when the host asked me, “Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry.” I responded, that this isn’t how our constitutional liberties work, where rights are prospectively violated without an adequate process. I added, “With respect to free speech, which is another of our cherished rights which Europeans don’t care much for…” I then explained how in France I could be arrested for hate speech, or in Germany I could be arrested for Holocaust Denial. We don’t have such laws. I also noted that we have an exclusionary rule, which they don’t, so criminal can go free if evidence is seized without a warrant. We have lots of dangerous rights. This was the theme of my article, The Constitutionality of Social Cost.

When the host asked me why the United States has so many more mass shootings than other western nations, I was REALLY tempted to ask ask him which country had the most mass shooting casualties in 2015. But I really like the Marquis De Lafayette, so I held back.

Though, perhaps my biggest trolling of the interview was that I sipped from my “Come and Take It” mug as they asked me to explain American gun culture. Unfortunately, because I was on Skype, the image was too low-resolution to be visible.