Whoopi Goldberg Calls For Stricter Gun Laws After Nashville Shooting: ‘Why Are We Compromising?’

View gallery

Whoopi Goldberg got heated while calling for stricter gun safety laws after the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. The View moderator wore a sweater that had the words “Thoughts and Prayers” crossed out and underneath it said “Policy and Change.” She called for stronger regulations on the guns people own and records of what weapons people own at the opening of the show on Tuesday, March 28.

SIX KILLED IN NASHVILLE SCHOOL SHOOTING: After a private Christian elementary school in Tennessee's capital city became the site of the latest school shooting massacre, which claimed the lives of three children and three adults, #TheView co-hosts react. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/4Wy7YWmgoC

— The View (@TheView) March 28, 2023

While Conservative co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin spoke about potential policies (such as training, background checks, and mental health screenings) that would make buying deadly assault weapons, such as an AR-15 more difficult, Whoopi quickly interrupted. “Why are we compromising?” Whoopi said. “I am tired of trying to find a way to justify you being able to keep 75 guns in your house. I am tired of trying to figure out a way to say: listen, we have rules and regulations.”

As Whoopi continued, she made a comparison to having a driver’s license, saying she wanted records of every gun that people own. “When will it go far enough? When are people going to figure out that just as you were saying: I have to have a license to drive. It’s not a compromise. We don’t discuss it. You either get a license, or you go to jail. So to me, you want to have 7011 guns? We need to know that. We need to know what you got, because you are now being painted with the same swath as all the people who are killing people left and right with legal guns,” she said.

Whoopi called out owning assault weapons, which were banned from 1994 to 2004, noting how they have no practical use compared to other guns. “I don’t have a tank. I can’t go and buy a tank,” she said. “AR-15’s have no use in normal, daily life. None. ”

While she said that she didn’t want gun owners to have to get rid of every single firearm, she wanted a record of who owns what. “I don’t say give up all your guns. I don’t know why you have to have 5011 of them, but maybe you do, but I want to know that you’ve got them, because I want to make sure that I’m aware of what’s going on in my periphery, and if you’re not willing to do that, then we all have a problem,” she said.

Before the end of the segment, she called more people to think of the children who are affected by not placing stricter policies in place. “Telling people to put armed guards in schools doesn’t work. Talk about Uvalde if you’re not sure how that went down. Talk about what kids are dealing with. These are our kids. They may not be your kids, but they’re my kids. They’re your kids. They’re somebody’s kids,” Whoopi said.

Whoopi has been an outspoken advocate for gun safety. After the Supreme Court struck down a New York law requiring people to show “proper cause” for concealed carry, the actress called the ruling a “middle finger to New York” during a June 2022 episode. “We have been trying to figure out how to get a handle on all that has been going on in this city in particular with gun laws, and it makes you wonder: what does this mean? Are we saying to people, ‘Yes, you can come to this city and conceal your weapon’? And now the police have to figure out who’s carrying and who’s not and who’s legal to carry? It’s insane,” she said at the time.