Meghan McCain Defends AR-15 Gun Owners On ‘The View’ & Viewers Slam Her After Texas Shooting

Season 23 of ‘The View’ started with — what else? — a controversial rant by Meghan McCain. The co-host sparred with the ladies about gun control, and even declared that she ‘wouldn’t live without guns.’

It took less than one episode for Meghan McCain to stir up controversy this season on The View. During the show’s season 23 premiere, the ladies got to talking about the recent string of mass shootings in the United States that happened while The View was on summer hiatus. While discussing the August 31 shooting in Odessa, Texas, that left at least seven people dead, they noted that the shooter had failed a federal background check, but was still able to purchase an AR-15 assault weapon due to the gun show loophole. Meghan, 34, an avid shooter and self-professed “major” NRA donor, groused about being outnumbered by her liberal co-hosts again and ranted about gun ownership.

After co-host Abby Huntsman, lamented that, “if nothing is going to happen after Sandy Hook, I don’t know what it’s going to take,” Meghan butted in to give her perspective as the “chick on the panel that spent most of her break shooting.” She complained about Democratic candidates, like Beto O’Rourke, who are proposing gun restrictions (he wants to implement a government buyback program), saying, “If you’re going to be a gun-grabber, you don’t get my vote, period. We got to have a different conversation.” Co-host Joy Behar pointed out that gun restrictions have already passed in other Democratic administrations. The Clinton White House passed a federal assault weapons ban in 1994; it expired in 2004.

“The AR-15 is by far the most popular gun in America, by far,” Meghan said. “I was just in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, if you’re talking about taking people’s guns from them, there’s going to be a lot of violence… I’m not living without guns. It’s just that simple.” Abby, her close friend, gently wondered if Americans could ever “get to a place where we can actually walk into a mall and look around, and not be nervous that someone’s going to pull out a shotgun?” Meghan mocked her and the rest of the panel, responding, “None of you feel safe? I mean, I feel safe that I can protect myself. I have guns at my house.” She stopped herself after complaining that she felt like she was being “virtue signaled.”

Viewers at home were outraged, or at least just exhausted, by Meghan’s remarks. “Meghan McCain gets herself so worked up about things that aren’t happening, like Beto coming to take her all her guns. @MeghanMcCain should be more worked up about getting universal background checks so some of these mass shootings could be stopped,” one critic wrote. “Meghan McCain is trying to get people to like guns harder than I tried to get people to like Pavement in my early 20s,” another joked. Another questioned why The View still had Meghan as a co-host. “Why does Meghan McCain still have a voice on your platform?” they tweeted at the program. “There are other considerate, and empathetic Conservative voices you can have on, and not someone who doesn’t see a problem with a 17 month old baby getting their lips and teeth shot off and requiring surgery,” referring to one of the victims of the Odessa shooting.

For what it’s worth, Beto O’Rourke is absolutely not showing up at the McCain residence to take away Meghan’s guns. The Democratic presidential candidate, 46, tweeted about the news that Walmart would be discontinuing the sale of handgun ammunition and asking customers not to open carry guns in the wake of a deadly shooting at their store in El Paso, Texas — his hometown, and a town he represented as a congressman. “This is a step in the right direction—and I’m grateful Walmart has taken action—but we can’t rely on corporations to stop gun violence. We need universal background checks, we need red flag laws, and we need to buy back every single assault weapon,” he tweeted.