CNN’s Alisyn Camerota came under fire for suggesting that gun store owners should question customers about their mental health before selling them firearms.
“Why don’t we go to gun shop owners and say, ‘Do you think that this 21-year-old who comes in and wants an AR-15-style weapon, do you think he looks like he’s going hunting with this weapon?’ Did you ask him, ‘By the way, do you ever think that people are chasing you? Do you ever hear voices saying that people are coming for you?’ Do they ever ask questions like that? Because this guy, it sounds like … would have answered yes,” Camerota said on Wednesday.
“How onerous would it be to have a gun shop owner just say, ‘By the way, are you hearing voices? Do you think people are chasing you? Do you think everybody’s watching you?’ … It would have weeded out, possibly, this guy,” Camerota added.
Political commentators and social media users slammed Camerota for the comments, with Meghan McCain saying the remarks were “stupid, ignorant and elitist.”
“People who have never purchased guns don’t know how seriously dealers take purchasers and their mental health. This is the LAST thing sellers want,” McCain tweeted. “This is hands down the most wildly stupid, ignorant and elitist take I’ve ever seen on tv on this issue.”
TUCKER CARLSON SLAMS OBAMA AS ‘RACIAL ARSONIST’ IN RESPONSE TO STATEMENT ON BOULDER SHOOTING
People who have never purchased guns don’t know how seriously dealers take purchasers and their mental health. This is the LAST thing sellers want.
This is hands down the most wildly stupid, ignorant and elitist take I’ve ever seen on tv on this issue. https://t.co/1YTeuAy5eU
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 24, 2021
Two things:
1) Maybe we have a mental health crisis in this country because people like Camerota broad brush all mental illness in this ridiculous way, thus stigmatizing it
2) Shop owners can and do deny. Why not ask the family if you’re going to ask shop owners? https://t.co/uDfu1Fna9Q
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 24, 2021
How onerous would it be to have liquor store owners and bartenders ask patrons whether they struggle with binge drinking or might potentially become violent or get behind the wheel of a car? https://t.co/twFaIsB5kt
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) March 24, 2021
Ha! Perhaps a couch they can lay on for a formal diagnosis? https://t.co/715YT98khl
— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) March 24, 2021
CNN not sending their best. https://t.co/X3NeCTZebH
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 24, 2021
Most TV hosts clearly have never bought guns or gone through the background check process. And it shows in clips like this.
Embarrassing. https://t.co/QKpJxwrY7H
— Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) March 24, 2021
Camerota’s comments come as Democrats renew calls to reform gun laws after the Boulder, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia, shootings.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take commonsense steps that will save lives in the future,” President Biden said on Tuesday.
“This is not — it should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue,” he said. “It will save lives, American lives. We have to act.”
