During the Tuesday airing of Fox News’ The Five, Geraldo Rivera said Vince Vaughn’s pro-gun statements reminded him “of Timothy McVeigh and the militias.”
On Monday, Breitbart News reported British GQ magazine asked Vaughn about “the American right to own a gun” and Vaughn said:
We have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government. It’s not about duck hunting; it’s about the ability of the individual. It’s the same reason we have freedom of speech. It’s well known that the greatest defense against an intruder is the sound of a gun hammer being pulled back.
British GQ then turned to the current push to put guns in schools so teachers/staff can use them to protect children.
They asked if guns should “be allowed in school,” and Vaughn responded:
Of course. You think the politicians that run my country and your country don’t have guns in the schools their kids go to? They do. And we should be allowed the same rights. Banning guns is like banning forks in an attempt to stop making people fat.
When Geraldo heard these things, he heard Timothy McVeigh — the man who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, thereby killing 168 people.
Geraldo mocked Vaughn’s contention that the Founding Fathers hedged in the right to bear arms so we could resist tyranny not only outside our borders, but also within. He facetiously said, “Anyone who thinks they need guns, there is a gun for every man, woman, and child in the country, to protect against the corrupt, and arrogant, and pervasive government” of which Vaughn spoke.
Geraldo later denied that guns are used by law-abiding citizens to stop crimes. He asked fellow host Eric Bolling, “When was the last time you heard of a civilian stopping a crime with a gun?” And when Bolling said, “It happens thousands of times per day,” Geraldo responded by saying, “That’s a legend. You’re watching too much True Detective.”
The number Bolling was looking for was 2,082 defensive gun uses (DGUs) per day. That number comes from Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck’s scholarly work showing a minimum of 760,000 DGUs a year.
That’s not a typo — guns are lawfully used by civilians to save lives or thwart burglaries, kidnappings, etc., 760,000 times every year. Far from legend, Breitbart News previously reported that Kleck reaffirmed these findings on February 17 and explained that no one has produced empirical evidence to refute them since he first put them forth in 1993.
If Geraldo wants to see individual instances he can study for himself, here are just a few of the DGUs that took place in November 2014 through January 2015:
(Nov. 30) A Washington state mother shot an alleged home invader to save her children.
(Dec. 8) A veteran confined to walker used a gun to stop home invasion.
(Dec. 9) Antioch, California, homeowner opened fire on two home invaders.
(Dec. 19) A 14-year-old shot and killed an intruder to save grandparents.
(Dec. 20) A man used a handgun in self-defense when confronted by an armed robber outside an Ohio mall. He killed the would-be robber, ending the attack.
(Dec. 26) A Good Samaritan witnessed domestic attack, pulled pistol, and held the man at gunpoint until police arrived.
(Dec. 27) A home invader put a gun to a woman’s neck in Memphis. The invader was shot and killed by the homeowner.
(Dec. 28) A Bucks County, Pennsylvania, resident shot an intruder who broke through the glass door on her apartment.
(Dec. 29) A home invader was shot and killed after a pregnant woman helped fight him off.
(Dec. 30) A pastor shot a man who attacked him inside the church.
(Dec. 30) A Texas fireworks stand owner used a gun to shoot and stop armed robbers.
(Jan. 9) Four armed robbers stormed a women’s gun store in Shawnee, Kansas, and the co-owner’s life was spared when her husband intervened by opening fire on the suspects.
(Jan. 10) A California homeowner survived an initial attack by a home invader, retrieved gun, and held the suspect at gunpoint until police arrived.
(Jan. 11) A man put a gun to a Papa John’s Pizza delivery woman’s head; she pulled her own gun and shot him in the face.
(Jan. 12) An armed robber in a Milwaukee barber shop was shot and killed by a patron with a concealed carry license/handgun.
(Jan. 13) An armed Taco Bell robber ordered would-be victim to drop his pants, but the victim pulled his gun instead and shot the robber dead.
If Geraldo wants a more recent example: On May 31, Todd C. Scott used his handgun to stop a mass shooting and save lives in the Magnet Bottle liquor store in Conyers, Georgia.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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