Wednesday's shooting during a Republican congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia led to an intense debate over gun control on "The View" today.
Whoopi Goldberg kicked off the conversation explaining why she thinks it's a bad idea some GOP lawmakers are saying they're going to carry guns to protect themselves now.
"As a person who owns guns and has been shot at, listen, you hear shots, people run," Goldberg said. "You run to get out of the way. You don't stop and go [mimes pulling out gun] 'Hey!' And if you're playing softball, you're not wearing your gun. So what are you gonna do? You going to run over to your bag while they're shooting, you're gonna root in your bag and get your gun and try to figure out where it's coming from ... plus, all the adrenaline? That's not the answer."
No, Kerry Washington Will Never Stop Talking Politics In Public
View Story"Law enforcement will tell you when there's more than one person that has a gun, it makes the situation more dangerous for them because they don't know who the bad guys are," Sunny Hostin added, with Goldberg echoing this sentiment later.
"If other people have guns, it makes it very hard for the police to know who to shoot because every civilian's got a gun out," she said.
After Joy Behar said she'd be "afraid" to take public transportation in a state with open carry gun laws, Jedediah Bila offered up her alternate take on the situation.
Why the Women of 'The View' Were Split Over Reaction to Bill Maher's N-Bomb
View Story"When I go to states like Arizona, states like Texas, I'm not worried about law abiding citizens carrying guns," she explained. "They don't make me nervous. I feel much more comfortable knowing that if something happens you have law abiding citizens that have gone through background checks, that have been trained."
"Have you been around afraid people with guns?" Goldberg asked, with Jed answering affirmatively. "I don't believe you."
"If the Capitol police had not shown up, there would have been a massacre there," Bila continued. "If you live in a society where only the police have guns, that's called a police state. That is not the United States of America. We have the Second Amendment."
'The View' Lays Into Kathy Griffin Over 'Awful' Beheaded Trump Photo: 'She's in Doo Doo' (Video)
View Story"Let's talk about the Second Amendment," a frustrated Goldberg shot back. "The Second Amendment is about a militia. That's what it says!"
"That's the time it was written," Bila argued. "It's the right to bear arms, to protect yourself and your family."
"Not to protect yourself and your family, that's not what the Second Amendment is about," Hostin chimed in.
The show then had to cut to a commercial and they moved on to another topic when they returned from break.
