In an interview with a BBC Five Live host, the president of gun advocacy group Open Carry Texas defended his state’s newly liberalized gun laws and said the only way to stop mass shootings is to put more guns on the street.

According to C.J. Grisham, the U.S. has plenty of gun laws on the books, but added, “You can pass all the background checks you want, but a criminal gang member in Chicago isn’t going to run a background check on another gang member.”

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Grisham was then interrupted by the host who asked, “Sorry. How many of the mass college shootings were carried out by criminal gang members?”

“Well they were all carried out by criminals, not licensed carriers,” Grisham replied, before being pressed if they were gang members.

“So how did those people manage to access the weaponry that led to all of those deaths then?” he was asked.

“Illegally,. That’s what I’m saying,” Grisham replied, before being asked, “How do you tighten that up then?”

“Well, you can’t stop all crime,’ he replied. “You tighten it up by getting rid of gun-free zones and allowing people to defend themselves no matter where they walk, no matter where they go, no matter where they study.”

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“So, just to be clear, C.J.” he was asked, “The solution is actually having more guns in circulation in America. Therefore, when a Columbine happens, a teacher can open fire in a classroom against the assailant. So, guns in classrooms? You advocate that?”

“Well, there’s already guns in classrooms,” he parried. “It’s just that they’re in the hands of criminals and the good guys can’t defend themselves.”

In fact, the guns used in the Columbine shooting were purchased from an unlicensed private seller of the type the gun laws newly proposed by President Barack Obama would crack down upon.

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Grisham is currently a candidate for the Texas State Senate.

Listen to the audio with C.J. Grisham below via YouTube: