Former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden said Friday, in the wake of the shootings in a California bar he's a "strong supporter" of the Second Amendment, but he believes that better gun laws are needed as the United States, as a country, is "badly overarmed."
"I don't think those are inconsistent statements at all," Hayden told CNN's "New Day." " When events like this happen, we have folks pointing out that these are likely inevitable and we're saying that in the only country in the world in which these kinds of events routinely happen."
Hayden added that he is part of a group that is lobbying for better gun control laws, and he believes there are "certain weapons that no one should have and there are some people out there who should not be allowed to have any weapons. And we can do that and still remain true to the Second Amendment."
The statistics "speak for themselves," he continued. "We're not doing this right. And we need to have an honest discussion without this reflective emotionalism that we get when anyone brings up the question about limiting what kinds of weapons people should get or who should get weapons."
The California shooter, Ian David Long, 28, had been a former Marine who was legally able to obtain weapons. According to reports, his service began when he was 18 and lasted nearly five years, including serving a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan. He was honorably discharged as a corporal in 2013.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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