During an appearance on ABC’s The View to seemingly test the waters for a possible presidential run in the near future, New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu faced biting questions from the liberal cast members as the pushed for more gun laws and gun bans. He schooled them on how to respect gun rights and have a safe state by focusing on the mental health crisis, instead of banning guns for law-abiding Americans.
The topic of guns was brought up near the end of the interview by racist co-host Sunny Hostin, who has previously asserted the problem with gun owners in America was their “white” skin.
After falsely claiming there have been “241 mass shootings in this country” this year, she went at Sununu directly. “And as governor, you've loosened gun laws in your state and you hold an ‘A’ rating from the NRA,” she chided. “You told a friend of our show, Jenn Psaki, recently, ‘There's no law you're going to pass that's going to stop mass shootings. There's a law you're going to pass that's magically going to stop gun violence.’”
Citing no evidence, she greatly oversold the effectiveness of the 1994 “assault weapons” ban (although she initially claimed it was signed in 1997, which was inaccurate). “However, there was a law that was passed. That law was passed in 1997. It was a federal assault weapons ban, and it cut it -- 1994 rather -- and it cut gun violence by 70 percent,” she proclaimed.
She also falsely claimed “the minute” the ban was allowed to expire, mass shootings “went up.” This ignored the fact that there were still mass shootings occurring during the ban. Arguably the most well-known school shooting, Columbine, occurred five years into the ban in 1999.
Sununu immediately pointed to Chicago’s strict gun laws and their infamous gun violence problem. He also called out Democrats in Congress for doing nothing to curtail gun violence during the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency (Click “expand”):
SUNUNU: If the argument is, if we just have more gun bans and gun laws, Chicago would be the safest place in the country because they have the most restrictive laws.
HOSTIN: But the problem with that argument is that the guns that are used in Chicago are coming from states that have looser gun laws.
SUNUNU: So if you're argument is –
HOSTIN: Because I lived in that area.
SUNUNU: --we should ban something federally, I remind you; the Democrats had the House, the Senate, and the presidency for two years. They did nothing.
With Hostin and co-host Joy Behar defending Democratic inaction as just a “mistake,” Sununu pointed to his own state as an example of how to embrace gun rights and have low levels of gun violence.
“Guys, I have the safest state in the country. You can talk about the validity, the merits of a law based on the results it gets. I have the safest state in the country,” he bragged. He argued that it boiled down to what other states were not doing, which was addressing mental health:
It’s not because people have access to guns. It's because we're not dealing with mental health. We don't provide access for mental health for kids. When people are in crisis, they have nowhere to return. They resort to violence. We don't the right things in terms of lock down our schools and protect. The core of the issue is mental health.
This drew a cascade of boos from the liberal audience. But moderator Whoopi Goldberg stepped in and told them to “stop.” “You know, we need to talk to people to find out what they're thinking,” she added. Although she did say they wanted to know if people were “thinking in the right way.”
The View’s anti-gun ranting was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from LeafFilter and Mars. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
May 25, 2023
11:49:18 a.m. Eastern(…)
SUNNY HOSTIN: I want to ask you this, because I think it's really important.
In the last 145 days, we've had 241 mass shootings in this country. And as governor, you've loosened gun laws in your state and you hold an "A" rating from the NRA. You told a friend of our show, Jenn Psaki, recently “there's no law you're going to pass that's going to stop mass shootings. There's law you're going to pass that's magically going to stop gun violence.”
However, there was a law that was passed. That law was passed in 1997. It was a federal assault weapons ban, and it cut it -- 1994 rather -- and it cut gun violence by 70 percent.
JOY BEHAR: Mass shootings.
HOSTIN: And the minute it was reinstated -- Mass shootings. The minute was it was reinstated they went up. Why not put that law back in?
GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU: No. No. No. So, understand-
[Applause]
-we did not have the mass shootings in the early '90s that we have today. It is exponentially worse. Right?
BEHAR: Right.
SUNUNU: So, if your argument – If the argument is, if we just have more gun bans and gun laws, Chicago would be the safest place in the country because they have the most restrictive laws.
HOSTIN: But the problem with that argument is that the guns that are used in Chicago are coming from states that have looser gun laws.
SUNUNU: So if you're argument is –
HOSTIN: Because I lived in that area.
SUNUNU: --we should ban something federally, I remind you; the Democrats had the House, the Senate, and the presidency for two years. They did nothing.
HOSTIN: They made a mistake.
SUNUNU: They did nothing because they know –
BEHAR: That was a mistake.
SUNUNU: Guys, I have the safest state in the country. You can talk about the validity, the merits of a law based on the results it gets. I have the safest state in the country. So why aren't we having the mass shootings? It’s not because people have access to guns. It's because we're not dealing with mental health. We don't provide access for mental health for kids. When people are in crisis, they have nowhere to return. They resort to violence. We don't the right things in terms of lock down our schools and protect. The core of the issue is mental health.
WHOPPI GOLDBERG: What’s wrong with – Why – Why are you holding on to one gun? What is it about this one gun?
[Applause]
BEHAR: The AR-15.
HOSTIN: The AR-15s.
BEHAR: The automatic rifles that kills a bunch of children who are just going to school, that gun.
SUNUNU: If that – if you say we’re just going to ban – Again, if that was easy, the Democrats would have done it. They didn't do it because that’s not the change –
BEHAR: All right. Let’s forget about the Democrats, right now. What are you going to do?
SUNUNU: No, I'm not banning any guns. I'll provide access to mental health. We're get to the core of the issue, which is what spurs a lot of the violence that –
BEHAR: There are crazy people all over the world –
[Audience booing]
GOLDBERG: Stop! Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. No. No. No. No. No. No. No, no booing.
BEHAR: No Republican will ever come back here if you’re going to boo.
GOLDBERG: You know, we need to talk to people to find out what they're thinking and are they thinking in the right way. He's not going to be perfect. None of them are. But at least give people the opportunity to say what's going on.
We'll be right back. Thank you for being with us today.
