Ben Carson refused to back away from his controversial remarks on mass shootings that lit up the gun control debate this week. The GOP presidential candidate argued that everyone should attack a massive shooter and he would sacrifice his life if he were face-to-face with a gunman. He said he’d rather see a body with bullet holes over gun control.
“I want to plant in people’s minds what to do in a situation like this because unfortunately this is probably not going to be the last time this happens,” he said in an interview on “CBS This Morning.”
Less than a week after the mass shooting on the Umpqua Community College campus in Oregon, presidential candidates have been addressing gun control and mental health issues. But Carson’s latest comments defending the right to bear arms may be the most controversial, reports CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman.
“I would ask everybody to attack the gunman because he can only shoot one of us at a time. That way, we don’t all wind up dead,” he told ABC News while chuckling on Tuesday.
“The accusation there, Dr. Carson, is that you appeared tone deaf and that you seemed callous in the laughter about a massacre and what you would have done,” Fox News’ Megyn Kelly said.
“I’m laughing at them and their silliness,” Carson responded.
“Who?” Kelly asked.
“The people asking that question. Of course, you know, if everybody attacks that gunman, he’s not going to be able to kill everybody. But if you sit there and let him shoot you one by one, you’re all going to be dead,” Carson said.
When asked if he was judging the victims, Carson said he was looking at “the big picture.”
“Not judging them at all. But, you know, these incidents continue to occur. I doubt that this will be the last one. I want to plant the seed in people’s minds so that if this happens again, you know, they don’t all get killed,” he said.
On “CBS This Morning,” Carson said that the case of Chris Mintz, the army veteran who was shot seven times while charging the shooter and ultimately saved lives, “verifies what I’m saying,” although he did not know Mintz was when first asked about him.
“That’s exactly what should be done and if everybody does that, the likelihood of him being able to kill as many people diminishes quite significantly,” Carson said.
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SOURCE: CBS News
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