(KHOU 11 News)
Cindy George, Houston Chronicle
A Katy gun store and shooting range provided the setting for Monday’s episode of CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” which featured Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, State Sen. Dan Patrick and rocker and National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent.
Since December’s Newtown, Conn., massacre in which the shooter killed 20 children, six school employees, his mother and himself, the cable program has been engaging in the debate over firearms with “Guns in America” shows.
The verbal sparring in Texas, which was described as “Gun Country,” explored the question: Does anyone in America really need an AR-15 assault rifle?
The episode opened with Morgan wearing protective gear at Tactical Firearms as he tested several weapons, including an AR-15 and a gun that can unload 900 rounds per minute. The talk show host spoke with business owner Jeremy Alcede, who explained why the sales of firearms have surged as President Obama and congressional leaders consider tightening gun regulations.
“They want it because they are law-abiding citizens and they know it is legal to purchase now,” Alcede said.
Abbott said Texans need access to firearms to protect themselves against home intruders and violent gangs. He added that thousands of ranchers along the border need guns to guard against drug cartels. “They deserve under the Second Amendment to meet force with force,” the attorney general said.
Abbott and Patrick, both Republicans, do not support universal background checks, which the attorney general said “are not working.” Abbott added that tougher enforcement should focus on “ensuring that criminals and those who have mental issues do not get their hands on guns.”
Morgan said his guests’ opposition to more gun control, as proposed by the president, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and others, was a “disturbing reaction to the murder of 20 young children.” But his guests pushed back on what they interpreted as hyperbole and ignorance about firearms as well as American culture.
(Read more at Chron.com)
Video Link: CNN host tapes broadcast about guns in Katy
(KHOU 11 News)
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