Ben Shapiro Piers Morgan Debate

Ben Shapiro Piers Morgan Gun Control Debate

The Ben Shapiro Piers Morgan debate on gun control may well have been the event that put Ben in the national spotlight in the political arena. Yes fans of his will say that he had been a nationally syndicated columnist since high school, as well as the author of five books at this point. However, outside of his run-ins during Q&A periods at College campuses, this is probably the clip that many Shapiro fans will most identify with. We’ll get to the clip and then write our reaction below.

Before we get into it the good news is, if you’re both a fan of Ben Shapiro and Piers Morgan, that despite some short term negative feeling the two would have about each other two would ultimately reconcile. Finding middle ground on issues of free speech and opposing “safe spaces”, ben would even invite Piers Morgan on his show for a long form Sunday Special episode on Aug 18, 2019. Nearly six years after the above exchange on gun control.

Despite the rhetorical flourishes, there was some nailing down of policy proposals. When asked whether he’d like every American to have an AR-15, Ben said “No” and then Piers asked Ben to list those Americans who should not be allowed to own the weapon.

Ben Shapiro: I’d stop anyone with a criminal background, I’d stop anyone with a history of mental illness, and I would ask (pauses) and I would require (not ask) anyone that has somebody with a criminal background or history of mental illness in the household keep that gun locked up and safe.

Ben Shapiro Weighs In On Background Checks

Building on that positive exchange, Piers asks Ben about background checks (at the time 40% of all gun sales  did not require background checks) to which Ben responded “I believe in background checks (to buy firearms). For everyone.” Even going so far as to say that there should be a national registry of who owns guns and who doesn’t, with one stipulation: that the registry is not made public.

The reason for this stipulation (not shown in this interview) is the fear that criminals will consult the list prior to home invasions and that will essentially make it easier to know which homes to rob (those homes that do not own guns).

From here the debate descends into an argument over the NRA with Ben arguing (perhaps not explicitly defending) the group as a “private group that doesn’t take any public funding” which gives them the right to say what they please. Shapiro argues that one should “talk to legislators not interest groups” if one wants to actually make improvements to the system and begging Piers not to “throw him in with Alex Jones” whom both Piers and Ben Shapiro have had disputes with in the past.

Ben Weighs in on the Debate

On an episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast, Joe asked Ben to weigh in on the famous interchange and Ben shared more details. Ben said that Piers had a Sandy Hook survivor that they were going to bring out after the first break and chose not to. We actually were unable to verify this but would love to know if there's a reliable outlet that will. If so, please contact us and let us know as well as if we left out any details (or followup details) in this debate.