Hannity and de Blasio Get Heated on Gun Rights: 'Should Every New Yorker Have the Same Protection You Have?'
There are many, many reasons to dislike Bill de Blasio.
The New York City mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate hates private property, rich people and, for some reason, skyscrapers.
And like most other big government-loving socialists, there’s another thing he hates — guns.
Now, to de Blasio’s credit, he sat down for an interview this week with Fox News host Sean Hannity, a conservative who disagrees with him on just about everything.
But it may not have been the best idea for the long shot presidential candidate, as Hannity schooled him on a number of topics, including gun rights.
Hannity noted that as mayor of New York, de Blasio has armed security protecting him in a similar manner to the way Hollywood stars are protected by security guards with guns. But for regular people, New York City is one of the most difficult places in the country to legally obtain a firearm.
“Should every New Yorker, should every American, have the ability if God forbid the criminal element invades their home, invades their property, to have a gun in their home to protect themselves, like you do?” Hannity asked.
Watch below, starting around the six-minute mark:
De Blasio, to no one’s surprise, dodged the question.
“You’re in the safest big city in America … with the finest police force in America,” he said. “We keep people safe. Crime’s gone down for the last six years on my watch.”
“I believe right now what’s wrong in this country is not that people have rights around guns, it’s there are no gun safety measures like background checks,” he said.
Hannity interjected, noting that as a gun-owning New Yorker, he had to agree to a background check.
“Ask the NYPD and they’ll tell you they believe in strong gun laws to keep officers and civilians safe,” de Blasio replied, claiming that the background checks need to be more “sufficient.”
Hannity raised the question again, asking de Blasio if “every New Yorker, if they’re mentally stable” and pass a background check, “have the same safety you have?”
Again, de Blasio dodged the question.
“Everyone deserves to be safe. The answer is not for everyone to have a firearm — any more than the answer is not for every teacher to have a firearm,” he said.
“So the answer is no?” Hannity asked.
“I believe people have rights, but I also believe we need background checks, we need an assault weapon ban, we need a waiting period for purchase,” de Blasio said.
Hannity rightly pointed out that de Blasio was “dodging” the question, which the mayor denied.
“Should every New Yorker have the same protection you have?” Hannity asked.
“We have a police department … that is making it safer all the time — that’s the best way to protect people,” de Blasio said.
Hannity kept pressing the issue further, and eventually de Blasio gave up trying to dodge. “I ain’t buying what you’re selling,” he said.
“The answer is no, but you’re afraid to say it,” Hannity said.
“My answer is my answer,” de Blasio replied. “You are trying to set up a reality where you get to paint a picture on your own terms. It doesn’t work that way.”
De Blasio, of course, wants people to be dependent on the government, not themselves, for protection. While the job of police officers is to protect Americans, it’s not hard to envision scenarios where law enforcement doesn’t arrive in time to prevent a tragedy.
De Blasio doesn’t want people to be self-reliant. And that’s why he’d make a terrible president.
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