Minutes before being crowned Miss America on Saturday night, Miss New York, Mallory Hytes Hagan, matched the attitude toward guns espoused by her very liberal Governor, Andrew Cuomo. Asked by judge Sam Champion, the weather-reader for ABC’s Good Morning America, about putting armed guards in schools, Hagen condemned the concept, insisting: “The answer is not to fight violence with violence.”
As if law enforcement officers carrying guns fuels violence.
Audio: MP3 clip
She argued during the pageant in Las Vegas televised on ABC:
I don’t think the proper way to fight violence is with violence. I think the proper way is to educate people on guns and the ways that we can use them properly. We can lock them up, we can have gun safety classes, we can have a longer waiting period. The answer is not to fight violence with violence, however.
Champion’s question: “Good evening, Miss New York. In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, there is a lot of talk about gun control. One solution being proposed is an armed guard in every school. Do you think that would make our schools safer?”
Champion didn’t formulate his own question. Co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet explained beforehand: “Each of our judges has been provided with a question.”