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Ben Carson on Oregon: ‘I Would Not Just Stand There and Let Him Shoot Me’
Photo
Ben Carson appeared at a town hall-style meeting in Ankeny, Iowa, last week.Credit Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
Updated, 2:59 p.m. |
Ben Carson, the Republican presidential candidate, said on Tuesday that victims of mass shootings should not be timid during attacks, imagining that if he were facing a raging gunman, “I would not just stand there and let him shoot me.”
The remarks on Fox News came a week after a shooter entered a community college classroom in Oregon and opened fire on students after asking them about their religion. Mr. Carson said he would defend his faith at any cost and that if he were in the classroom he would not have cooperated.
“I would say: ‘Hey, guys, everybody attack him! He may shoot me but he can’t get us all,'” Mr. Carson, a conservative who has been rising in recent polls, said.
The Oregon gunman killed nine people before taking his own life. An Army veteran who did try to stop him was shot multiple times and remains hospitalized.
Like many Republican presidential candidates who have sought to express sympathy for the victims while maintaining their support for gun rights, Mr. Carson appeared to struggle to address the issue with sensitivity.
In a question and answer session on Facebook earlier this week, he explained that two of his cousins were killed in the streets and that as a doctor he has had to remove many bullets from bodies. Despite the breathtaking nature of such violence, he said, curbing the right to bear arms is not a real solution.
“I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away,” Mr. Carson wrote.
Seizing on his role as an outsider in the election, Mr. Carson also criticized President Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for politicizing gun violence, arguing that recent killings are a mental health issue that cannot be solved by taking away firearms. He suggested that Mr. Obama was wrong for planning a trip to Oregon later this week to console the families of victims, since some members of the community did not welcome him, and he shed some light on how he would handle such tragedies if elected.
Asked if would make such a trip as president, Mr. Carson said “probably not.”
“I mean, I would probably have so many things on my agenda that I would go to the next one,” he said.
Mr. Carson has tried to show solidarity with the victims, recently posting a photograph of himself with a sign that said “I am Christian” on Facebook to demonstrate how people should not renounce their religion in the face of violence.
“When you give away your identity, you give away your soul,” Mr. Carson said on Tuesday.
Mr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who is thoughtful and soft-spoken on the campaign trail, has been attracting controversy when discussing religion. Last month he started a debate about the role of religion in politics when he said that he would not be comfortable with a Muslim president.
Candidates who do not favor tighter gun control measures have been on the defensive after last week’s killings. Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida was criticized for being insensitive when he said “stuff happens,” and that government intervention is not always the right response to crises.
On Tuesday, Mr. Carson said he would feel better if there were more guns in schools to protect children from armed intruders. He even suggested thatkindergarten instructors should have weapons training.
“If the teacher was trained in the use of that weapon and had access to it, I would be much more comfortable if they had one than if they didn’t,” Mr. Carson said.
Although Mr. Carson did acknowledge it would be helpful to find new ways of pinpointing potential mass murders before they act, he said that people – not guns – kill people and that the Second Amendment remains crucial for defending freedom. Quoting Daniel Webster, he said, “America would never suffer tyranny because the people are armed.”
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/fir...e-been-more-aggressive-against-oregon-gunman/
Photo
Ben Carson appeared at a town hall-style meeting in Ankeny, Iowa, last week.Credit Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
Updated, 2:59 p.m. |
Ben Carson, the Republican presidential candidate, said on Tuesday that victims of mass shootings should not be timid during attacks, imagining that if he were facing a raging gunman, “I would not just stand there and let him shoot me.”
The remarks on Fox News came a week after a shooter entered a community college classroom in Oregon and opened fire on students after asking them about their religion. Mr. Carson said he would defend his faith at any cost and that if he were in the classroom he would not have cooperated.
“I would say: ‘Hey, guys, everybody attack him! He may shoot me but he can’t get us all,'” Mr. Carson, a conservative who has been rising in recent polls, said.
The Oregon gunman killed nine people before taking his own life. An Army veteran who did try to stop him was shot multiple times and remains hospitalized.
Like many Republican presidential candidates who have sought to express sympathy for the victims while maintaining their support for gun rights, Mr. Carson appeared to struggle to address the issue with sensitivity.
In a question and answer session on Facebook earlier this week, he explained that two of his cousins were killed in the streets and that as a doctor he has had to remove many bullets from bodies. Despite the breathtaking nature of such violence, he said, curbing the right to bear arms is not a real solution.
“I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away,” Mr. Carson wrote.
Seizing on his role as an outsider in the election, Mr. Carson also criticized President Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for politicizing gun violence, arguing that recent killings are a mental health issue that cannot be solved by taking away firearms. He suggested that Mr. Obama was wrong for planning a trip to Oregon later this week to console the families of victims, since some members of the community did not welcome him, and he shed some light on how he would handle such tragedies if elected.
Asked if would make such a trip as president, Mr. Carson said “probably not.”
“I mean, I would probably have so many things on my agenda that I would go to the next one,” he said.
Mr. Carson has tried to show solidarity with the victims, recently posting a photograph of himself with a sign that said “I am Christian” on Facebook to demonstrate how people should not renounce their religion in the face of violence.
“When you give away your identity, you give away your soul,” Mr. Carson said on Tuesday.
Mr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who is thoughtful and soft-spoken on the campaign trail, has been attracting controversy when discussing religion. Last month he started a debate about the role of religion in politics when he said that he would not be comfortable with a Muslim president.
Candidates who do not favor tighter gun control measures have been on the defensive after last week’s killings. Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida was criticized for being insensitive when he said “stuff happens,” and that government intervention is not always the right response to crises.
On Tuesday, Mr. Carson said he would feel better if there were more guns in schools to protect children from armed intruders. He even suggested thatkindergarten instructors should have weapons training.
“If the teacher was trained in the use of that weapon and had access to it, I would be much more comfortable if they had one than if they didn’t,” Mr. Carson said.
Although Mr. Carson did acknowledge it would be helpful to find new ways of pinpointing potential mass murders before they act, he said that people – not guns – kill people and that the Second Amendment remains crucial for defending freedom. Quoting Daniel Webster, he said, “America would never suffer tyranny because the people are armed.”
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/fir...e-been-more-aggressive-against-oregon-gunman/
of course i woulda rushed him"
