Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s tweet that more armed Frenchmen could have prevented the hostage crisis in Paris on Friday is facing a torrent of criticism.
The ex-Georgia lawmaker and one-time Republican presidential candidate sent the tweet below as part of a series of dispatches about the coordinated terror attacks, which have killed more than 100 people in Paris.
Imagine a theater with 10 or 15 citizens with concealed carry permits. We live in an age when evil men have to be killed by good people
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) November 13, 2015
The reaction was swift. BuzzFeed reports that Mark Owen, a broadcaster on the France 24 network, accused Gingrich on air of capitalizing on a crisis to advance a political agenda. “Newt Gingrich, shame on you,” he said.
There was no shortage of blowback on Twitter as well, including these responses:
@newtgingrich STOP IT
— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) November 13, 2015
300 million American guns didn't stop 9/11, Newt. Don't be so crass. https://t.co/Siy00qFNa5
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 13, 2015
Even some conservatives were urging caution about making that argument. Consider this post from Erick Erickson, the Georgia shock jock.
I gotta say, it does feel a little icky to turn this attack in Paris into a debate on how France should adopt our 2nd amendment.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) November 14, 2015
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