Fox News host Trey Gowdy has finally seen enough.
The former Republican congressman broke from the party line on Wednesday following a shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school that left 2 dead and 17 more injured. He called for stricter requirements around firearms, a subject that has been a third rail for the GOP since time out of mind.
“What people are crying for now is, ‘How can we prevent this?'” he said. “The only way to stop it is to identify the shooter ahead of time or keep the weapons out of their hands. We’re going to have to have a conversation of freedom vs. protecting children.”
Gowdy, who refused to push for gun control measures while serving as a representative, said that our “reactive” system of government can only tolerate so much death before something changes.
“How many school shootings does it take before we are going to have a conversation about keeping firearms…,” he began.
Gowdy’s comments were immediately criticized by right-wing commentators and gun rights groups.
Mike Cernovich posted a clip of the segment with the caption “Trey Gowdy hates you and wants to take your guns.” The National Association for Gun Rights accused Gowdy of being a “shill for gun control” and said his call to action was “unacceptable.”
Gowdy wasn’t alone in pushing the gun control question on the network on Wednesday. Former Democratic congressman Harold Ford Jr. wondered where the United States would draw the line on “The Five.”
“The common dominator in all of this is the gun. At some level, the sanctity and the misapplication of the Second Amendment can’t supersede every conversation about the lives of our kids,” he said.
The post Fox News’ Gowdy calls for gun control after Minnesota Catholic school shooting appeared first on Salon.com.
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