Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) was "way off" when the Texas lawmaker said he wished the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School had had easy access to an assault rifle.
Larson, speaking on Monday, was referring to comments Gohmert made a day earlier in which the Republican congressman said that he wished Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of Sandy Hook, had an M-4 assault rifle when she was confronted by Adam Lanza, who shot and killed 26 people including 20 children at the school on Friday.
"I think Mr. Gohmert is way off in this case. It's like saying the same thing after Virginia Tech — arm the students, let them carry weapons," Larson said Monday on MSNBC. "That clearly, in my estimation — maybe it works in Texas but I don't think it works for the nation and I clearly don't think teachers should be trained along those lines."
In response to the shooting a number of lawmakers have called for tightening restrictions on access to automatic weapons. But Gohmert said that Hochsprung should have had access to an automatic weapon.
"I wish to God she had an M-4 in her office locked up so when she heard gunfire she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids," Gohmert said Sunday.
Additionally, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
said Sunday that she planned to introduce legislation in 2013 that reinstates the federal assault weapons ban.
Gohmert also warned that increasing gun restrictions, such as banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips, could be a slippery slope.
"Once you start drawing the line, where do you stop?" Gohmert added.
