A Tennessee politician attempted to school some students protesting gun violence at the Tennessee Capitol on Monday, but he missed the mark by a long shot.
The students were reacting to a recent shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville that led to the deaths of three children and three adults.
State Rep. William Lamberth (R) agreed to talk with the protesters, but had a weird way to trying to win a debate with students worried about getting shot in class.
Lamberth’s approach was to ask the students which firearm they’d prefer to be shot with.
“If there is a firearm out there that you’re comfortable being shot with, please show me which one it is,” he asked rhetorically.
Lamberth probably thought the question he asked the protesters was deep and Socratic, but it came across as heartless ― especially when accompanied by a shrug.
“So you’re not going to like my answer, and, look, I’m going to say that straight up,” Lamberth warned. “It’s not about this one gun.”
He then claimed that it would be impossible to stop every single gun from getting into “the hands of a crazy person, a deranged person, [or] a convicted felon,” and even if it was done, it “would do nothing to prevent y’all’s safety.”
Lamberth has previously protested red flag laws, saying that, “We don’t take people’s Fourth Amendment Rights or First Amendment Rights, or Second Amendment Rights or Fifth Amendment Rights without proper due process, without making sure that everyone knows what the rules are ahead of time.”
Naturally, his comments suggesting one gun will kill you the same as another were mocked by Twitter users.