Whoopi Goldberg: 'I want that AR-15'
'The View' co-host Whoopi Goldberg didn't mince words on Tuesday, saying she wanted every AR-15 to be banned.
"The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg flatly said Tuesday she wanted every AR-15 in the United States banned and confidently predicted it would be the law of the land.
During a heated discussion on gun control in the wake of last week's mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Goldberg said she wanted people in the National Rifle Association to go to the funerals of those children and called for the confiscation of the popular AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles, which are frequently at the center of so-called "assault weapon" ban discussions.
"I don't want all your guns the way you don't want to take all my rights to abortion. I don't want all your guns. I want that AR-15. I want it," Goldberg said, to applause from the studio audience. "And we're going to vote it out, so it's not going to be acceptable."
Guest co-host Tara Setmayer, who is a senior adviser to the left-wing Lincoln Project but was identified as a "conservative commentator," cited former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion in the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller decision that found the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. She said Scalia acknowledged there wasn't an absolute right to hold any gun whatsoever.
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"I'm telling you all, we have to vote it," Goldberg said. "We just have to put it to the vote, and remove the AR-15. Keep whatever else you've got, get rid of the AR-15."
Earlier in the discussion, Setmayer was pressed by co-host Joy Behar why her household had guns, but Setmayer said she had "come around" on the AR-15 issue and said they shouldn't be permitted anymore.
She admitted it would be difficult to ban them entirely in the current political climate.
The killer in Uvalde used an AR-15-style DDM4 Rifle that he purchased legally, and the massacre has again touched off a debate over gun ownership in the United States, with gun control advocates calling for changes ranging from expanded background checks to gun confiscation, while gun control opponents say their rights shouldn't be infringed because of the actions of criminals.
The left-wing ABC talk show's hosts have called for sharp gun control restrictions since last week's shooting and often employed heated rhetoric in the process. Goldberg said she wanted to "punch somebody" if she heard from Republicans who wanted to send their condolences after the shootings, demanding they take legal action.
President Biden has signaled support for banning AR-15s and reimposing a version of the assault weapons ban he championed as part of the 1994 crime bill.