In the weeks following the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, CNN's Piers Morgan has been arrogantly claiming - on seemingly a nightly basis - that no one needs an AR-15.
On his show Thursday, Morgan got a much-needed education on the subject from 22-year-old Celia Bigelow who explained, "I want a gun that can hold a lot of ammo because if I'm faced with an intruder or multiple intruders that come into my home, I want to make sure I have enough ammo to get the job done, especially if they're armed" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
PIERS MORGAN: Vice President Joe Biden on the best weapon for defending yourself. One of my arguments against guns is you don't need assault weapons for self defense. Joining me now are the gun girls, two women who tell us precisely why they need them.
Celia Bigelow is director of campus action for America Majority Action. Aubrey Blankenship is the director of communications for the Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly, Virginia.
Welcome to you, ladies.
(CROSS TALK)
MORGAN: Explain to me why you believe you need an AR-15 style assault rifle.
CELIA BIGELOW, DIR. OF CAMPUS ACTION, AMERICAN MAJORITY ACTION: Well, I personally bought one for self defense. One, they're lightweight. They're quite accurate. I can shoot them much more accurately than a handgun or a shotgun.
And three, these -- I'm going to pull a David Gregory right here and I can hold up my 30-round magazine right here, because it's actually legal in Virginia. But I want a gun that can hold a lot of ammo because if I'm faced with an intruder or multiple intruders that come into my home, I want to make sure I have enough ammo to get the job done, especially if they're armed.
So I want -- they essentially serve as an insurance mechanism to make sure that I have enough rounds, that if multiple intruders come in and they're armed, I don't have to take the time to reload.
Indeed.
A few minutes later, Aubrey Blankenship, the director of communications for American Majority Action, agreed:
AUBREY BLANKENSHIP, DIR. OF COMMUNICATIONS, AMERICAN MAJORITY ACTION: And we, as young women wanting to defend ourselves -- we want the capacity to have more bullets than your average handgun would have. So we have decided that this is something that we in defending and exercising our Second Amendment rights, as well as the --
BIGELOW: And let's bring up a situation here. We saw a situation in Georgia just a couple weeks ago where a mom was hiding in her attic with her two children when an intruder entered her home. She had a handgun that only had six rounds in it. She fired all six rounds, missed the intruder once, hit him five times in the face and in the neck. And he still lived. What if it had been --
MORGAN: How many of the three million Americans that own AR-15s have ever used them to defend themselves at home?
(CROSS TALK)
BIGELOW: There are far many examples, but are the media willing to cover them?
MORGAN: Do you know one?
BIGELOW: For example, yes, absolutely. In 2010, in Houston, Texas, there was a 15-year-old boy alone at home. And he was -- he was home alone with his 12-year-old sister when two intruders tried to enter in the front door and in the back door of his house. He grabbed his AR-15 and shot at them and they ran away.
Not surprisingly, Bigelow was 100 percent correct. KHOU.com reported on June 29, 2010:
The teenage son of a Harris County Precinct 1 deputy shot a home intruder Tuesday afternoon in the 2600 block of Royal Place in northwest Harris County, deputies said.
The 15-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister had been home alone in the Mount Royal Village subdivision when around 2:30 p.m. a pair of burglars tried the front and back doors, then broke a back window.
The teenager grabbed his father's assault rifle and knew what to do with it.
“We don't try to hide things from our children in law enforcement,” Lt. Jeffrey Stauber said. “That young boy was protecting his sister. He was in fear for his life and her life.”
The home invaders fled, leaving a trail of blood.
Shortly afterwards, two suspects showed up at Tomball hospital. One was an adult and was hit at least three times. Lifeflight flew him to Memorial Hermann hospital in the Medical Center. The second suspect, a juvenile, was taken back to the crime scene, authorities said.
You were saying, Piers?
