With the ongoing bombing attacks obliterating Iran’s leadership, Iranian citizens are hopeful for a future that will include more Western-style freedom and less harsh treatment from a brutal dictator.

But according to one major American gun-rights group, those citizens have an uphill battle given the fact that they lack the right to keep and bear arms.

 “Iran does not have an equivalent of our sacred Second Amendment,” Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said in a news release. “And right now, the Iranian people need it badly. For without arms to topple what’s left of a murderous, authoritarian dictatorship, it will be difficult to overthrow the mullahs and their terrorist followers. With firearms, however, the playing field is leveled and the people would have a chance to restore some semblance of civilized government.”

As Gottlieb pointed out, the Iranian people have lived for more than four decades under a demonic dictatorship that murders dissidents, constantly threatens peace in the region, and exports terrorism across the world.

“In recent months, it has slaughtered protesters, continued to push for the development of nuclear weapons, which would undoubtedly be used against other nations, and tightened its grip on a civilian population which now has the chance to change,” he said. “As we noted two months ago, reports that several Iranians had been arrested for manufacturing guns sent a signal that the people were preparing to resist with force. Now they have the opportunity, but lack the arms to take up the fight.”

Gottlieb emphasized that the symbol of freedom in a nation of slaves is the gun, because it enshrines the ability of the people to keep government in check.

“Our founders recognized this 250 years ago, which is why the right of the people to keep and bear arms was ultimately recognized and enumerated in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights,” he said. “Nothing so clearly underscores the importance of this right than what is now happening in Iran, where marching against tyranny without the means to overthrow it has resulted in little more than body counts.”

Ultimately, Gottlieb is hopeful for the Iranian citizens to have a better, more positive future. But without a Second Amendment, that could be difficult

“An armed citizenry in Iran would be capable of removing the tyrants and restoring stability to the region,” he concluded. “Only time will tell the outcome, but our history, and our Constitution—with its protection of the right to keep and bear arms as its cornerstone—can serve as a guidepost for the oppressed people of Iran, who deserve to live free.”