“The View” co-hosts sparred Wednesday over gun control after co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pushed back against her fellow hosts’ anti-gun narratives.
The panel were discussing the mass shooting that took place at Michigan State University where three students were fatally shot and several others injured. The hosts agreed there needed to be stricter gun control laws before Griffin pushed back.
“Legal gun ownership is fundamental in this country,” she said, adding she supports background checks, red flag laws and longer wait periods.
“What about banning assault weapons?” co-host Sunny Hostin asked.
“Depending on how you’re defining it,” Griffin responded.
“Let’s define it as a weapon of mass destruction,” Hostin said.
“An AR-15, I don’t see personally see any reason that someone would need to own. There are sportsmen-” Griffin said before co-host Whoopi Goldberg chimed in.
“You can’t shoot anything with an AR-15 and get any meat. It’s not sportsmanship.”
“That’s not where the discussion starts,” Griffin said. “We have a policy making problem in the country where we let the perfect be the enemy of the good. What we were able to do on a pipe is a step in the right direction. If it saves one life, that solves it for me.”
“I think this is a Republican problem,” Hostin added. (RELATED: Alyssa Farah Griffin Defends Nikki Haley Against Her Fellow Co-Hosts On ‘The View’)
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“Republicans are the problem as far as passing legislation, ” co-host Ana Navarro said. “They’re the obstacle to passing legislation. This is an American problem, it’s a uniquely American problem.”
Joy Behar then read a report about shooting statistics, arguing shootings increased after the federal government on so-called “assault weapons” expired.
Griffin, however, pushed back and asked how many of the guns were illegal and how many were so-called “assault rifles.”
Goldberg then took control of the conversation and said the government needs to figure out a way to ban the weapons.
Forty-three year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae opened fire at Michigan State University on Monday night, killing three and injuring five. McRae was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.