The hosts of “The View” once again clashed on the topic of gun control Wednesday, with most of the table again feeling that banning assault weapons should be the next logical step after the latest mass shooting on a school campus.
Host Alyssa Farah Griffin was the outlier, as she argued that the Michigan State shooter was not the result of “a Republican problem” but rather “a societal one.”
On Monday, a shooter opened fire just after 8 p.m. on Michigan State’s campus, killing three and critically injuring five. Those five remain in the hospital fighting to recover. On Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” the hosts were again somber, with moderator Whoopi Goldberg wondering what it’ll take to get gun reform in the country.
As the discussion progressed, Farah Griffin, who owns a gun herself (as does Whoopi) argued that mental health is at the core of the problem. It’s not the first time she has said so, and the comment prompted ire from Sunny Hostin. As the two went back and forth, Farah Griffin eventually noted that she takes issue with Republicans shouldering the blame for mass shootings.
“I think we have a policy-making problem in this country where we let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Farah Griffin said. She added that gun reform will have to find some middle ground because, “If we just go to totally partisan lines, full gun control is the only answer, nothing’s ever gonna get done.”
At that, Hostin argued that it really is a Republican problem, considering they’re the ones who actively block common sense measures — like in Michigan specifically.
“Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has had her life threatened, was almost kidnapped. She pushed for stronger gun laws before this happened. But the Republicans — they tried to pass 35 bills, gun-related bills in the last session, all of which were blocked by Republicans, who at the time controlled the state legislature,” Hostin said. “This is a Republican problem.”
But Farah Griffin disagreed and said that “This man committing this violence is not a Republican problem” but part of the “societal problem” with guns.
