Brendan O’Brien, Barbara Goldberg

NEW YORK (Reuters). Gun rights advocates in America have tried to leverage the Russian invasion of Ukraine to strengthen their positions on the Second Amendment to American Constitution to keep and bear arm. The crisis has added another element to the heated discussion.

Social media has seen arguments linking the invasion of gun rights with the invasion this week. This was evident in both a post from the National Rifle Association as well as during a Georgia legislative vote.

The NRA stated Monday that “What’s happening in Ukraine is proof of the wisdom and our founding fathers when drafting the Second Amendment,” pointing out Ukrainians who are armed to defend their homeland.

However, anti-gun violence supporters point out the increasing number of deaths from firearms in America and argue that tighter regulation and fewer guns is what’s needed.

Peter Ambler (executive director, Giffords Law Center for Prevent Gun Violence) said it was irresponsible to attach gun advocates’ “more guns anywhere” support to the Ukraine crisis.

“The tyrannical actions of Vladimir Putin don’t erase the fact that 45,000 Americans died from gun violence in 2020, nor do they erase the urgent need for commonsense, popular gun violence prevention policies like background checks and funding for community violence intervention programs,” Ambler told Reuters.

After President Volodymyr Zeleskiy declared that weapons will be given to those citizens willing to defend Ukraine from Russian troops on Thursday, the Second Amendment and Ukraine began to gain momentum.

U.S. Congressman Zach Nunn (an Iowa Republican and Air Force veteran) told Reuters that the Ukrainian crisis underlined the value of the right for people to own guns.

Nunn spoke out in an interview Tuesday, saying: “In Ukraine today, I would offer that many people are awakening to the fact that this is not just the best way of protecting their country but it also preserves what they treasure in democracy.”

Social media has seen the twinning of “Ukraine” with “#2A,” which is shorthand for U.S. Constitution protection of the right-to-keep and bear arms, since last week’s Russian invasion.

Thank God, the Ukrainian people have the right of taking up arms and carrying them against any aggressor. We are blessed to have the #2A in America, thank God. “#NRA” North Carolina Republican Congressman Greg Murphy said via Twitter (NYSE:

Republicans made Ukraine one of the main arguments in their 34-22 victory in Georgia State Senate over a concealed-carry bill. The vote split the party lines Monday.

Lindsey Tippins (a Republican State Senator) said that he would wager that 99 percent would support the Second Amendment right for Ukrainens to bear and keep arms. He was asking fellow lawmakers to vote in favor of the bill.

Georgia House now has the “constitutional carry gun law”, which allows legal weapon carriers to conceal a firearm in Georgia without obtaining a permit.