Meghan McCain says 'there's going to be a lot of violence' if assault weapons are banned

The panelists of “The View” returned from their summer vacations ready to tackle the hot topics they missed while away from the show. They didn’t waste any time stirring up controversy.

The co-hosts weighed in on gun control in the wake of a spate of mass shootings across the United States in recent weeks. Conservative Meghan McCain lashed out at calls for an assault weapons ban, saying, “If you’re talking about going and taking peoples’ guns away from them, there’s going to be a lot of violence.”

Fellow panelist Joy Behar reminded McCain that people “lived without them for many years during the ban,” to which McCain replied, “I’m not living without guns.”

“How about we live in a place where we can actually walk in a mall and not look around and be nervous that somebody’s going to pull out a shotgun?” asked co-host Abby Huntsman.

“I’m sorry that none of you feel safe,” said McCain. “I feel safe that I can protect myself, and I have guns at my house,” she added.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg jumped in, addressing gun control and background checks, saying, “We’re not trying to take all your guns. We’re trying to pare them down because everybody has way too many guns.” Goldberg added, “Some people, we don’t know how they’re doing. Like this kid who decided to go off because he got fired and just decided to kill a whole bunch of people. When you see that week after week after week everybody needs to sit down at the table and have this conversation.”

Following the broadcast, McCain defended her views in a Twitter post:

Twitter users were quick to react to McCain’s comments, with some expressing their disapproval of McCain’s views on guns:

Others sided with McCain, and spoke out in support of the co-host:

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