MSNBC anchor Joy Reid said Wednesday on her show “The ReidOut” that she did not leave her house on July 4 over fears of mass shootings because “America is awash with guns.”

Reid said, “Sadly, there is nothing more quintessentially American than fireworks and gun violence. So far we’ve had more than 350 mass shootings this year. According to a recent survey, around 1 in 5 Americans has lost a family member to gun violence, 1 in 5. More than half of American adults have said that they or a family member have experienced a gun-related incident, more than half. Violence, terror and trauma doesn’t happen in a vacuum. This country is awash with guns and the gun lobby is using its power to both increase access to them and to expand gun owner’s right to shoot first and ask questions later.”

She continued, “I have to say, I did not go out on July 4 and would not. The idea of going to a mass gathering, a parade, or a big fireworks thing outside seems insane to me, to be blunt, in America because America is awash with guns, and now people don’t just have them. They seem to want to shoot people with them and use them for whatever, you know?”

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