CNN host to Hutchinson: People think 'NRA does not take reality into consideration'

CNN host Candy Crowley on Sunday told former DEA head Asa Hutchinson that it was naive to talk about preventing gun violence without bringing up guns.

Hutchinson, who is now a consultant for the National Rifle Association, said having armed security guards in schools was a "better solution" to mass shootings than enacting new gun laws.

"If you have an option of sending a child to a school with an armed presence who are trained that can protect the children or a school that doesn't have that option, right now the polls show in America that most people would select the more secure school, the one that invests in security," he said. "So let's help these schools, and let's don't have a false debate that's not going to increase safety in the long term for the most precious commodity in our society."

"I think that the debate certainly can be a holistic one, but to take guns out of the debate seems naive at this point, listening to the public debate," Crowley responded. "You know, yes, it has to do with school security, but it also has to do with guns, it also has to do with mental health, it has to do with any number of things."

"And it seems to many people that this sole approach by the NRA does not take reality into consideration, that is, that some of these high capacity magazines, some of these big guns are killing our children and killing people on the streets."

The NRA has insisted new gun laws would not help to prevent mass shootings like the one that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut earlier this month. On Friday, the pro-gun lobby pointed at violent media and mental illness as the problem.

Watch video, courtesy of CNN, below: