During a House Judiciary Committee markup hearing earlier today, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) offered a textbook example of willful blindness as he deliberately omitted a crucial part of the text of the Second Amendment.

Nadler was speaking in opposition to H.R. 354, which would reform the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act that recognizes the right of law enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon in certain federal facilities and across state lines, whether off duty or retired.

The omission of the crucial words “of the people” in the Congressman’s reading of the Second Amendment is more than a politician’s linguistic slip.

By deliberately leaving out the correct verbiage, Nadler radically alters the original meaning of the amendment which limits the power of government to infringe upon an individual right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Nadler has long been a proponent of gun control and has expressed concerns over the presence of firearms and ammunition in school zones, on state, local or private property that is open to the public as well as in certain federal facilities that are open to the public.

At the same time, as a member of Congress who has sworn a solemn oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution, including those parts with which he may disagree, Nadler’s omission demonstrates something more like contempt than principled opposition.