Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) on Thursday took on an argument raised at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on gun violence that many women — and mothers, in particular – rely on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines to protect themselves and their children.
“I was raised in a hunting culture in rural Missouri and so it is very important in my state that we protect the Second Amendment,” McCaskill said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We’ve got to get to the point that people will believe that we can love the Second Amendment but also that I don’t need to buy my new grandson’s parents a semi-automatic weapon to put in the stroller as they go around strolling my new grandson through the park. This notion that women need 30-round clips to protect their babies in their homes. I don’t know very many mothers that want a 30-round clip in their home around their babies. It is really extreme.”
Conservative activist Gayl Trotter insisted repeatedly during her testimony at Wednesday’s hearing that assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are useful defense mechanisms for otherwise vulnerable women.
Watch McCaskill’s exchange:
