MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript
Interview
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Joining me tonight, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York.
Congresswoman, thank you for your time tonight.
REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D), NEW YORK: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: This is really an unprecedented move. What do you make of
this, this firm making a move like this, and of course being, in a sense,
pressured by the Teachers Pension Fund in California?
MCCARTHY: Well, I can certainly understand it, because some
statements have come out saying that teachers should be armed. Talking to
certainly an awful lot of the teachers in the last two days, that`s the
last thing that they want to do. So I can understand that.
And you`re looking at a lot of these pension funds that are being
invested in this company, and they don`t want any part of this. So I`m
very happy, because, you know, we have investment funds that only do social
issues. And I`m glad to see them doing that. Maybe that sends even a
stronger message to the National Rifle Association that their grip is
losing.
Work with us. Let`s get an assault weapons bill passed. Let`s make
sure we can make this country safer.
SCHULTZ: Do you think they`re losing their grip?
MCCARTHY: I do. I actually do. Talking to a number of my Republican
friends, I asked them -- I said, you know, we`re reading about this press
conference on Friday. And they`re going to come out with something
positive. Now, I don`t know what that means. But with that being said, I
would love them to see them working with us.
We`re not taking away the rights of anybody to own a gun. But even
they hopefully will see that assault weapons and the large magazines, they
are not meant for the average citizen. And they are not.
SCHULTZ: Do you think we`ll see more move in commerce because of
this?
MCCARTHY: I do. I actually do. You know, there has been a shift.
You`ve seen this. You`ve been talking about it. You talked about it last
night. And I have to say that even from -- again, talking to some NRA
members, they have said, you know, listen, I`m a hunter. And I`m more than
willing to give up my assault weapons. I`ve never used it for hunting. I
don`t even use it for the security of my home. I like it for target
shooting at the range and things like that, he said, but enough is enough.
We cannot take this slaughter anymore.
SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, you warned the White House the gloves are off
if the president fails to act on gun control. Today Jay Carney said the
president supports an assault weapons ban. Are you confident that the
president is ready to act? Are we at that point?
MCCARTHY: Well, you know, number one, I was very thrilled, to be
honest with you, to see him come out not only on the assault weapons ban,
on one of the things he is planning on doing, closing the gun show
loophole, making sure the background checks are going to be able to be
there for everybody that would have to go through a background check before
they could buy a gun.
Those are all my bills that have actually been introduced here in
Congress for many years. I also know he is going to be working on the
educational side and the health side as far as mental illness.
SCHULTZ: Well, what about that? We`ve had quite a discussion about
mental health assets and resources going to this. That is a monumental
lift. That`s a huge lift. And it`s going to take a ton of money. You
think Republicans will go along with that?
MCCARTHY: Well, Ed, to be very honest with you, the reason it`s going
to take a ton of money is because last year and the year before, the amount
of cuts that have already done -- and a lot of people don`t realize this in
the United States, we made large cuts last year.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
MCCARTHY: We made large cuts the year before. That`s shutting down
my mental health clinics in my community.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
MCCARTHY: It`s shutting down the after-school programs, where we work
with these children that need a little bit of extra help. So when you say
you`re going to cut, you got to be very careful on what will be the end
effect. I think when we look at it, it`s got to be a whole comprehensive
package.
I`m a nurse. I look at things holistically. We have to do all these
things and above to make this a country safer.
SCHULTZ: Earlier tonight on this broadcast, Congressman Jack Kingston
said he doesn`t consider the gun used in the Newtown shooting an assault
weapon. Your response to that.
MCCARTHY: Listen, you know, we can take these shootings any way you
want to. And I don`t particularly care what kind of gun that they used.
But to be very honest with you, the large assault clips are the ones that
do the most killing.
He had 30 rounds in each of the guns that he had. Two rounds went
off. He shot over 100 bullets. And I think that`s probably what shocks
the nation. You know, when they read that a six-year-old was shot from six
to 11 times. You know what a six-year-old looks like. I know what a six-
year-old looks like. I know what gunshots look like.
That has tipped the country to say wait a minute. You know, we`ll
protect those hunters. They can go hunting. We will protect the right to
be able to own a gun to protect your home. But what I`ve been saying for
years, the average citizen does not need any of this.
SCHULTZ: No doubt. Congresswoman, thank you for your time tonight.
Carolyn McCarthy with us here on THE ED SHOW. And that is THE ED SHOW.
I`m Ed Schultz. "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" starts right now. Good evening,
Rachel.
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