“The View” host Sunny Hostin said Tuesday that anyone who owns a so-called “assault rifle” is “not a patriot” in response to the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday.
“I don’t think we can any longer equate freedom with the unfettered right to own ‘assault rifles,'” Hostin told her co-hosts.
“That is not freedom because I feel like a hostage right now. I feel like a hostage to the selfish people that insist on owning these types of weapons.”
TEN KILLED IN COLORADO SHOOTING: After a gunman opened fire at a grocery store where residents gathered to shop and receive COVID-19 vaccines in Boulder, Colorado Monday, the co-hosts react and question if Americans will push for stricter gun laws. https://t.co/g3yOiicJiX pic.twitter.com/otRdf5BpIk
— The View (@TheView) March 23, 2021
“The View” hosts were commenting on the mass shooting that occurred this week at a Boulder, Colorado, King Soopers grocery store on Monday, which left 10 people — including a police officer — dead.
The suspect had purchased a Ruger AR-556 pistol on March 16, according to The Denver Post.
“You are not a patriot because you think you have the right to own these types of weapons. You are not a patriot. You should be taking care of your fellow Americans,” Hostin said.
The talk show host said it was time to start talking about gun control before she criticized Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado for launching fundraisers and tweeting about protecting the Second Amendment two hours after the shooting.
Boebert had posted a series of tweets describing how no gun laws could have stopped the suspect who carried out the deadly attack in her home state.
Colorado already has:
-universal background checks
-a red flag gun control law
-large capacity magazine bans
-domestic violence gun laws
-an extended background check period
-state database background checks
-gun-free zones
Killers like Ahmad Al-Issa don’t follow the law.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) March 24, 2021
“That is disgusting. It is despicable. And it is time for that type of behavior to end,” Hostin said.
“That is not about the Constitution. That is not about the Second Amendment. That is not freedom — that’s not what freedom is.”
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President Joe Biden, among many Democrats, has called for the passage of massive gun control legislation in the wake of the massacre, even though all the facts of the shooting are not yet known.
The suspect, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and one charge of attempted murder, according to CNN, but his alleged motive behind the attack has not yet been discovered or disclosed.
Biden addressed the shooting by advocating for the passage of gun control legislation, including a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-sense steps that will save lives in the future,” Biden said in a Tuesday announcement. “This should not be a partisan issue.”
He urged the Senate to take up anti-gun bills passed by the Democratic-majority House this month.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.