Geraldo Rivera Says Schools Should ‘Fight Gunfire With Gunfire,’ Decries Oregon Shooting

In the aftermath of the mass-shooting at Umpqua Community College, Geraldo Rivera says the school should have had armed guards ready to shoot down the shooter. The former eponymous talk show host and Fox News contributor made his comments on Facebook on Thursday, calling the U.S. a “[gun-sick]” nation suggesting that it would take more than gun control to reign in America’s disproportionate. Rivera has long been known for his outspoken views against the Second Amendment, which has been interpreted to guarantee citizens access to firearms.

“The mass murder at Umpqua again reveals we are a gun sick nation. All the 2d Amendment bullshit aside, the gun lobby controls the country, and allows armed maniacal lunatics to roam free and kill,” Rivera said on his Facebook page.

The Nuyorican television personality compared the deaths to medical malpractice, saying that Umpqua Community College should have had armed guards to respond to the shooting.

“[Is it not] malpractice per se for any educational institution not to have at least one armed guard on campus trained and ready to fight gunfire with gunfire?” he said.

Geraldo’s comments may have come in response to news reports that the school decided last year not to hire armed guards, a decision that divided many in the community. Those opposed to having armed guards on campus pointed to the possibilities of accidental shootings.

“Guns are very dangerous, even with users who have years of experience and training; misfires happen or guns end up in the wrong hands," wrote student Haley Stammen, who published an op-ed in the student newspaper in 2014 following the Newtown shootings, NBC reports.

Geraldo also weighed in on the gun debate in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings last year, employing colorful language to attack gun rights groups and the firearms industry. He didn’t discuss the issue of armed guards

“In its relentless pimping for the gun industry, the NRA has unleashed an avalanche of deadly weapons on this gun-crazy country,” he said on his Facebook last year.

He used similarly colorful language on Thursday to describe the Umpqua school shooter. You can read his florid invective in the post below.