Meghan McCain kicked off the week by going after her fellow co-hosts on The View, taking aim at Joy Behar in particular during a discussion about gun control.
It was not so much a discussion as it was the start of a discussion, with McCain cutting off Sunny Hoisin as she read off a list of the mass casualty events in this country which have been carried out by individuals using AR-15 style rifles.
She had just finished the list when McCain fired back that the Texas gunman who murdered 26 inside a church was brought down by an AR 15 and voiced her annoyance that this was to be the focus of the conversation.
McCain, who has long been a passionate defender of gun rights, then declared: ‘I am a legal gun owner and gun laws don’t have any impact on people who legally go and buy guns and use them in a safe way. As a gun owner we’re demonized to such a degree.’
Meghan McCain (right) kicked off the week by going after her fellow co-hosts on The View, taking aim at Joy Behar in particular during a discussion about gun control
McCain then had trouble articulating what she wanted to say and turned her anger towards Behar.
‘You know what. Fine. You’re not even looking at me. I hate…’ said McCain, eventually grabbing her mug to have a sip of water.
A calm and collected Behar then stated: ‘I’m thinking of the 60s and 70s and how the black panthers and the weathermen had a lot of guns and suddenly the NRA put in gun control.’
Then, in a more belittling tone, she added: ‘It’s interesting, isn’t it?’
McCain then turned on all four women, stating: ‘Do you want to define to me what an assault rifle is. Just define it, anyone at the table.’
Behar replied: ‘It looks like a machine gun and…’
McCain quickly cut her off and said: ‘Machine guns have been banned.’
At this point Whoopi Goldberg swooped in to try and clear the air while McCain could be seen seething at the end of the table.
‘Here’s the deal. We’re talking about guns and does no one think it’s odd that we are talking about guns at a place of worship?’, asked Goldberg.
McCain declared: ‘I am a legal gun owner and gun laws don’t have any impact on people who legally go and buy guns and use them in a safe way. As a gun owner we’re demonized to such a degree.’
McCain has long been a passionate defender of gun rights. She is seen here shooting an assault rifle on a range in an image posted on Instagram
‘To me that’s the conversation. It doesn’t matter who’s got the guns. It’s when did it become the norm for us to be afraid to go in and worship.’
McCain remained quiet until the commercial break.
She has long been a fervent defender of gun rights going back to 2009 when she wrote a piece entitled Why I Love Guns for The Daily Beast.
In that piece she spoke about how after her father lost the presidency she and her brothers dealt with the tension by heading off to the firing range.
She also wrote that the idea of gun control did a disservice to the men and women of the United States.
‘Simply removing guns from the equation does not solve the larger problem. Worse, it gives the wrong impression about what can and should be done to help those who are troubled,’ wrote McCain.
‘The real solution to preventing gun violence is not taking away the tools, but tackling its causes: poverty, inadequate health care, mental illness, joblessness, inadequate housing, and poor education.’
She then added: ‘Desperate people will make anything a weapon. We need to eliminate desperation, not guns.’