I like Bill Maher.

I don’t agree with him on a lot of stuff, but he’s anything but a political windsock. His positions today aren’t that different than they were 10 years ago and that’s something I deeply respect. He’s also pretty funny about it, which I like.

But Maher has never exactly been pro-gun. We’ve talked about some of his comments in the past. But he’s also shown a remarkable amount of realism on the subject as well. He’s not pro-gun, but he can poke at the bad arguments.

All of this is why the recent comments he made on his show are so interesting.

Bill Maher conceded that guns are a clear “leveler” for women to defend themselves while discussing them with Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears during Friday’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Maher brought up the topic by addressing Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles and his family posing with guns for their Christmas photo in the wake of a deadly shooting in Nashville.

…

Maher admitted, “It makes sense because guns are a leveler. You know, if you don’t have guns, then the person who is physically stronger is always going to win.”

Though Maher has previously mocked Americans’ obsession with guns, he has also chastised liberals for pushing gun control as an issue without understanding gun owners.

“I mean, I do not like guns. I have guns. I do not like them. I always compare them to antibiotics. I never want to take one, but I’m glad they exist because I’m as small as some women,” Maher joked.

Maher’s comments are important in part because they’re so accurate.

Let’s be real, Maher isn’t a big, strapping guy. He appears to be pretty average-sized on television, which may mean he’s smaller than I thought. Either way, though, there are plenty of guys who are going to be bigger and stronger than him, just like there are plenty of guys who are going to be bigger and stronger than many women.

To argue that such folks can and shouldn’t be able to defend themselves against much larger and more aggressive attackers requires one to have no understanding of the nature of hand-to-hand violence. I’m sorry, but your political correctness doesn’t trump reality.

Guns, however, are a leveler, as Maher noted. They allow the physically weaker to defend themselves against the strong.

Yes, in an ideal world, they wouldn’t be necessary. We don’t live in an ideal world, though. We live in this one.

Because of that, we need guns so people like Maher can defend themselves from potentially violent attacks. Yet it shouldn’t just be relegated to celebrities like Maher–who, to his credit, doesn’t seem to have argued he should be an exception or anything–but for everyone.

We can lament the need for guns until we’re blue in the face. It won’t change the fact that some people will hurt those who are weaker than them for kicks if for no other reason. Like the old saying guns, God created all men. Sam Colt made them equal.

That goes for women, too.