“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg argued on Tuesday that the AR-15 should be banned nationwide following a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this month that left more than a dozen children and two adults dead.
“Listen, this AR-15’s got to go,” Goldberg said during a discussion on gun control during Tuesday’s show. “I don’t care, NRA. You’ve got to give that gun up. You can have your other yeehaw guns, whatever you want. But the AR-15 is not a hunting gun. It is not a gun where you’re going to go out and shoot your dinner.”
Goldberg suggested that the AR-15, a semi-automatic weapon, has an explicit purpose that should disqualify it from Second Amendment protections.
“This gun is meant to kill people,” she said. “That’s what it’s for and you can’t have it anymore.”
Police and several news outlets have noted that variations of the AR-15 have served as the weapon of choice for attackers who carry out mass shootings in recent years. The shooters involved in Buffalo, N.Y., Parkland, Fla., and last week’s tragedy in Texas all used the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. The weapon allows users to fire a large amount of bullets in a short amount of time.
The shooting at the elementary school in Texas has prompted new calls from victims’ families and Democrats for stricter gun control measures. Leading Republicans, meanwhile, have said the shooting in Uvalde highlights concerns about school safety measures and have dismissed calls for gun control as political.
“I don’t know what it’s gonna take. Maybe it’s just going to take us voting the right people in,” Goldberg said. “Because this is some BS. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of seeing little kids die because people are not paying attention.”