Crossfire Live Blog Sept. 17, 2013

Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America and Colin Goddard, a Virginia Tech shooting survivor and Senior Policy Advocate for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, join hosts Newt Gingrich and Stephanie Cutter tonight at 6:30pm ET to debate guns in the aftermath of the Navy Yard shooting.

3rd & 7 37yd

@stefcutter : guns are flowing into D.C. from the South where guns are legal #crossfirereturns

by seangraf via twitter 9/17/2013 10:37:13 PM
On Crossfire, pro-gun dude is dragging out the "if only someone had a gun" argument re Navy Yard. K. nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy…

by Abby Ohlheiser via twitter 9/17/2013 10:37:37 PM
.@stefcutter : You would allow guns in kindergartens? @larrypratt : I would strongly encourage it. #CrossfireReturns

by Crossfire via twitter 9/17/2013 10:37:48 PM
.@StefCutter Should guns be allowed everywhere, is that really the solution? #CrossfireReturns

by Crossfire via twitter 9/17/2013 10:38:09 PM
#cnn #crossfire #guns aren't the problem nor the solution #mentalchecks the start of something great!

by Bryan'sThoughts via twitter 9/17/2013 10:38:11 PM
@CrossfireCNN #CrossfireReturns Changes in Government policy do not directly prevent mass shootings.

by kcwalk919 via twitter 9/17/2013 10:38:35 PM
Guns in elementary schools would solve something? I just cantttt. #CrossfireReturns

by _jonathon42 via twitter 9/17/2013 10:39:29 PM
Armed civilian during the gabby gifford and temple shootings didn't stop the mass shootings. #crossfire

by Krystle via twitter 9/17/2013 10:39:40 PM
U can bypass ANY law. only way 2 prevent gun violence; raise mentally & emotionally sound ppl who dont use guns 4 self expression #crossfire

by mitchellmccraw via twitter 9/17/2013 10:39:48 PM
Why am I not watching @CrossfireCNN right now? #CrossfireReturns

by jswentzel via twitter 9/17/2013 10:39:54 PM
Yes. Stop broadcasting their names and faces. One reason why they go out in a "blaze of glory" like this rather than just kill themselves is because they know that they'll get to be all over the media; people will know who they are and that they've been mistreated, damn it!

by Keith 9/17/2013 10:40:04 PM
If the problem is that guns are flowing into DC from the South, where they are legal, wouldn't that indicate that the crime rate in the South should be higher than in DC, where guns are rarer and more stringently restricted?

by Rational 9/17/2013 10:40:09 PM
.@clgoddard : Requiring background checks on gun sales will stop flow of guns from the legal market to the illegal market #CrossfireReturns

by Crossfire via twitter 9/17/2013 10:40:46 PM
#crossfirereturns main flaw w/ gun control. Why would a criminal who murders, obey a gun law? y punish the lawful 4 the acts of the insane?

by Luke Jackson via twitter 9/17/2013 10:40:48 PM
more guns is the answer. If I was in a mall and a person with guns opened fire I would hope a bystandard would be there with a gun to stop him. Waiting on police takes to long and too many deaths. I would rather have a gun in my hand than a cop on the phone.

by westracer 9/17/2013 10:41:15 PM
.@StefCutter I think we should do background checks everywhere, not just at stores #CrossfireReturns

by Crossfire via twitter 9/17/2013 10:41:16 PM
loving @CNN 's new show #CrossFire ...intellectual people on both sides of the aisle debating important issues of today

by kristin_zeee via twitter 9/17/2013 10:41:27 PM
#CrossfireReturns Violence is Violence. Remove the tendency. Gun or bare hands. Violence is Violence. I'd rather be shot then beaten

by P. Allen French via twitter 9/17/2013 10:41:43 PM
#crossfirereturns more guns more death that's a fact

by Engr POPE via twitter 9/17/2013 10:41:54 PM
Watching CNN crossfire. It just got real.

by ALL DAY via twitter 9/17/2013 10:42:31 PM
Crossfire on CNN is my new favorite show

by Matt Lauzon via twitter 9/17/2013 10:42:39 PM
Background checks are already in place. The Naval Yard shooter passed one to purchase at least one of his weapons. It would seem that the problem isn't the lack of background checks, but rather how effective those background checks are.

by Rational 9/17/2013 10:42:46 PM
Next on Crossfire: @NewtGingrich : How long do we have to wait for a serious discussion on mental health? #CrossfireReturns

by Crossfire via twitter 9/17/2013 10:43:08 PM
Larry Pratt telling it like it is! #CrossFire #CNN #LiberalsGettingOwned ! “I can’t answer that question.” #RegistrationLeads 2Confiscation

by PaulChisholm via twitter 9/17/2013 10:43:19 PM
America has a problem with violence. Very few other countries in the world have that problem. It's not a gun issue it's a fundamental breakdown in society. Guns just make it easier.

by Peacelover 9/17/2013 10:44:02 PM
#CrossfireReturns I went out this weekend and fired my pistol. Only thing that suffered was some paper cups and my finances

by P. Allen French via twitter 9/17/2013 10:44:07 PM
Guns don't kill people. People kill people (almost exclusively with guns). #CrossfireReturns

by BenCapraro via twitter 9/17/2013 10:44:16 PM
Why doesn't Canada have as many of these incidents? We watch the same TV and movies and play the same video games. What is the difference?

by Richard 9/17/2013 10:44:37 PM
Seein and hearig this from my own people is sickening, yes guns are harmful but regardless if you remove gun factories or why ever "legal" sources, guns will always make their way back, example, drugs, as illegal as they are they always come back, open your eyes America, Switzerland has guns, 1 out of 2 citizens have guns and yet their killing percent and violence is less.

by Boris Lazarte 9/17/2013 10:44:45 PM
DOJ Study indicates that only 8.9% of gun crimes are committed by folks that legally obtained them......more regulation is not the solution here folks. Holder and the Administration should start doing their jobs and enforcing the current gun laws and see if that helps before trying to pass more laws that only hurt law abiding citizens.

by JMann 9/17/2013 10:45:01 PM
#CrossfireReturns @CrossfireCNN All I want 2 see is all the Assault rifles banned!!!

by GMW1646 via twitter 9/17/2013 10:45:11 PM
#cnn #crossfire Expand background checks and require gun owners to undergo a mandatory mental evaluation every 2yrs!

by Bryan'sThoughts via twitter 9/17/2013 10:45:23 PM
1. #NavyYard killer's friends say he had mental health issues. At what point should should mentally unstable person have gun access denied?

by sfpelosi via twitter 9/17/2013 10:45:33 PM
Sometimes we would see him. Sometimes he would come in and I would see him three, four times a week, sometimes a couple of times a week. Sometimes i would talk to him a couple of times a day. It just varied. Sometimes he would disappear for three or four days, a week. And he would be back and everything seemed fine. He was excited about his job that he was going to in DC.

-Kevin McDaniel
Store owner and friend of Aaron Alexis

by Lindsey MacNabb, CNN 9/17/2013 10:46:10 PM
gun owners dont need a mental evaluation every 2 years, states need to follow the federal guidelines already in place about reporting folks with mental health issues

by JMann 9/17/2013 10:46:21 PM
Can the government do anything to prevent mass shootings? Reply Yes or No with #CrossfireReturns Results: on.cnn.com/16iFfjJ

by Crossfire via twitter 9/17/2013 10:46:29 PM
An as an American sailor I disagree 100% because those rights of bearing arms were given to me and I shall stand by them

by Boris Lazarte 9/17/2013 10:46:39 PM
People run when shot at in crowds. Why do they run? Because they can't shoot back unarmed #CrossfireReturns

by aPhDStudent via twitter 9/17/2013 10:46:46 PM
#CrossfireReturns , Look at it this way, a bank robber walks into a bank, sees a room full of law abiding open carrying citizens. Who wins.

by Chris Gorman via twitter 9/17/2013 10:46:54 PM
Yes @clgoddard - Absolutely: "We can do better." #guncontrol #CrossfireReturns

by nedatsea via twitter 9/17/2013 10:46:59 PM
Does America as a whole have a problem with violence compared to the rest of the world, or does American's densely populated urban areas have a problem compared to the rest of the nation? How does violence in tier one US cities compare to violence in cities of the same size in Europe or Canada? How does violence in US rural areas compare to that in other nations?

by Rational 9/17/2013 10:47:10 PM
You have a documented case for this individual who misbehaved, the Navy knew it but still when he got out, he was allowed to get a clearance. People need to be asking the question, why?

-Kirk Lippold
Former USS Cole Commander

by Lindsey MacNabb, CNN 9/17/2013 10:47:13 PM
Crossfire is strangely civil. Was rather unsettling at first but very refreshing. Outstanding

by Tim J. Wood via twitter 9/17/2013 10:48:01 PM
Watching CrossFire I respect our Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich #CNN #NavalBaseShooting

by will90shock via twitter 9/17/2013 10:48:11 PM
@CNN #CrossfireReturns as soon as the cops got called by him when he was hearing things, his gun permit should have been pulled

by Doreen Dupont via twitter 9/17/2013 10:48:32 PM

Meet the Hosts

Newt Gingrich

Author, documentary filmmaker, historian, Speaker of the House (1995-1999), and 2012 Republican presidential candidate

Stephanie Cutter

Fmr. Obama Deputy Campaign Mgr. and W.H. Sr. Adviser, founder of Precision Strategies, fmr. Sr. Adviser to Maj. Leader Reid and Sen. Kennedy

S.E. Cupp

Conservative columnist for New York Daily News, contributing editor at Townhall Magazine, commentator and author

Van Jones

Former Special Adviser for Green Jobs under President Obama, co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, author and attorney

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About the Show

Crossfire hosted by Newt Gingrich, Stephanie Cutter, SE Cupp, and Van Jones will debut Monday Sept 9th at 6:30 pm ET.

The classic debate program will resemble the show's original format with passionate conversation and focus on topical events on the day. The daily, 30-minute program will feature two hosts and guests each night, discussing a range of issues from all sides of the political and cultural spectrum. In addition to the weekday show the Crossfire co-hosts will appear across the network's programming.