CONGRESS | Congressman Eric Swalwell appeared on Sean Hannity Tuesday to defend gun control that’s been the center of national debate after the Sandy Hook Shooting last month. Hannity named the segment Tuesday night as “Is America Still a Constitutional Republic?”

Swalwell followed the national Democratic position arguing that regulating high capacity magazines may limit mass shootings in America and heralded California as an example of prime control law. Arguing opposite of Swalwell was Representative Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) who argued in favor of “states to adopt outpatient treatment programs,” and address background checks which he called “woefully inadequate,” in order to prevent the mentally ill of receiving firearms.

A few bills have been proposed recently to control assault weapons, one was proposed by California Senator Dianne Feinstein to ban assault weapons but the bill that Swalwell has proposed to support has been Rep. Carolyn McCarthy’s (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Diana DeGette’s (D-Colo.) legislation to bar the sale or transfer of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Swalwell has also said that he supports the ban of assault weapons as well.

McCarthy has also proposed legislation to require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions occurring at gun shows and to address background checks to keep guns out of hands of dangerous individuals and require face-to-face purchase of ammunition.

At the end of the interview Hannity leaned into Swalwell over a recent privacy issue that conservative pundits like Ann Coulter have been raving about. An East Coast news site, Journal News, published a map with all the names and addresses of gun owners in Westchester and Rockland County in New York. Then Gawker reiterated a previous article from 2010 playing off of Journal News’s gun map noting that Sean Hannity, along with Fox News chief Roger Ailes, as well as a few other conservative pundits as owners of gun permits.

Hannity asked Swalwell if he believes in the right to privacy and if it was right that he was outed as gun owner. Swalwell struggled for a moment answering Hannity as the hard-line conservative put the pressure on. After Swalwell said if the disclosure was done through legal channels, that it was fine, but if not, it wasn’t. Then Hannity accused Swalwell of not answering the question.

“Do you think it was morally wrong,” said Hannity. Swalwell then, contrary to what he had just said, said that he didn’t believe that a list of gun owners should be published online.

Although, Sean Hannity, besides being a person of public interest, also lives in New York where it is legal according to New York Penal Code for people who own firearm permits to be publicly known.

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