This month's massacre in Parkland, Fla., seems like a key moment in the nation's ongoing debate about the Second Amendment, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a radio interview Friday.
I think it is time to have a conversation about what the right to bear arms means in the modern world, Rice told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday. I dont understand why civilians need to have access to military weapons. We wouldnt say you can go out and buy a tank.
More specifically, Rice said weapons like the AR-15 rifle that authorities say shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, 19, used to kill 17 students and teachers Feb. 14, shouldn't be available to civilians, the Washington Times reported.
NIKOLAS CRUZ CHARGED IN FLORIDA SCHOOL SHOOTING
But Rice, who served under President George W. Bush, made clear that she remains a believer in the Second Amendment.
We cant throw away the Second Amendment and keep the First, she said, adding that she considers the first two amendments to the Constitution to be indivisible.
We cant throw away the Second Amendment and keep the First. - Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. secretary of state
Hewitt then asked if Rice -- being an educator herself as a political science professor at Stanford University -- supports the idea of teachers carrying guns as a deterrent to potential campus shootings.
Rice said she doesnt think that is going to be the answer, the Washington Times reported.
I dont really like the idea, frankly, of a gun in my classroom, she said.
Rather, she supports looking to law enforcement and guards as ways for protection.
Rice, 63, was exposed to senseless violence at an early age, having grown up in Birmingham, Ala., where the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963 resulted in the deaths of four young girls. She has written and spoken frequently about the impression the horrific event made on her.
She told Hewitt that despite her reservations about weapons in the classroom, the proposal merited a serious discussion.
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Poster Comment:
Modern world
Same modern world pissing away their freedom left and right? No thanks Bush Globalist Harpy. The Second Amendment is to provide protection against a hungry, immense, evil and bankrupt government!