If you want the latest on the issue of gun violence in our country, start watching CNN’s Piers Morgan. He has had everyone even vaguely involved with the issue on his program, most recently hosting Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke Jr. who told Wisconsinites to “arm themselves” instead of calling 911.
Morgan chastised Clarke for his recommendation, and repeatedly asked the sheriff to back up his argument with statistics of gun owners successfully defending themselves. He also berated Clarke, arguing that he was calling for “a return to the Wild West.”
Morgan also criticized Clarke for using a “Hollywood voice” which downplayed the seriousness of the gun control issue.
The CNN host also asked Clarke how many instances in Milwaukee there have been of people successfully defending themselves with guns. Clarke admitted to not having statistics, to which Morgan responded “You haven’t got a clue, have you?” He then brought up a story of a Milwaukee woman who shot a gun in front of a house, and attempted to skirt the law by saying she was following the sheriff’s recommendations.
“You want to arm everybody in Milwaukee. You do these racy Hollywood-style adverts, you want them all out there, armed and shooting… What you’re creating is a return to the Wild West in Milwaukee. So I think it’s actually relevant that you don’t have any idea how many people actually need a firearm at home to defend themselves.”
Clarke then asked Morgan, “Are we going to have an honest exchange here or are you just going to talk over me?”
While there has been a sharp increase in gun violence and accidental gun injury or casualty in the news lately, dozens of incidents involving citizens defending themselves appropriately with guns have also made headlines recently , whether or not Piers Morgan wants to hear it. Particularly of note, a recent public hearing in Connecticut on the issue of gun violence which included testimony from Henson Ong, who argued that so-called “assault rifles” are helpful defense weapons.
“Had the Koreans in the LA riots not had AR-15s and AK-47s with 30-round magazines — and Ruger 30s — their businesses would have burnt to the ground like all the other businesses in their neighborhoods. Theirs stood because they stood their ground,” he argued.
Here’s video of the argument between Piers Morgan and David Clarke Jr., via Mediaite :