Since South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley publicly called for the removal of the Confederate flag, State Rep. Bill Chumley (R-Spartanburg) has reiterated his clear opposition to it, and in an interview with CNN made some eyebrow-raising remarks about the victims of the Charleston shooting.
When asked about his opinion on hate groups adopting the Confederate flag for their own use, Chumley responded by saying the focus of the post-shooting discussion had been misguided. He continued to say that the victims should have done more to protect themselves from getting shot, suggesting that had someone present been armed, “we’d have less funerals than we’re having.” Chumley asks, “Why didn’t somebody just do something?”
Watch his full response below.
On the day after the Charleston shooting, President Obama reintroduced the topic of gun control during his statement and recognized that the political gridlock in Washington would make progress on the issue difficult. “It’s going to be important for the American people to come to grips with it,” he said. “It is in our power to do something about it.”
A 2012 study showed that for every 32 criminal gun homicides, only one justifiable homicide involving guns occurred. It also observed that between 2007 and 2011, only 0.8 percent of people who experienced a violent crime used or threatened to use a gun. In other words, guns are used for self-defense far less often than they are for criminal activity.
And whether those present at the Emanuel A.M.E. church in Charleston that night — or anyone, for that matter — would have been agile enough amidst the chaos of a mass shooting to load, aim, and shoot a gun in self-defense is unknown. At least, that’s what U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford (R-South Carolina) said on CNN Wednesday.
“The fact is that if somebody walks through your newsroom right now, or this chamber that I’m in right now, and has a gun, I don’t think any of us can predict how others will react. And to attempt to do so and call somebody cowardice (sic) because somebody’s shooting at you and you don’t run toward the gun, I think is a bizarre statement.”
Rupali Srivastava is an intern with ThinkProgress.