CNN host slams gun control because Americans need assault rifles to stop Sydney-style standoff

CNN host Chris Cuomo on Monday told Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) that he got a "minus" for wanting to ban assault weapons when American might need them to stop terrorists like the man who took hostages in Australia.

While speaking to Murphy about the hostage situation at a cafe in Sydney, Cuomo turned to the issue of gun control in the United States.

"You get a plus/minus from situations like this on a signature cause of yours, namely gun control in the United States," Cuomo explained to the Connecticut Democrat. "We believe the man in Sydney has a shotgun -- an old-fashioned shotgun. If he did, that would be an illegal weapon there."

"When you look at what the risk is in the United States, generally men like this are involving themselves with weapons," the CNN host continued. "But it also creates pressure on people who want weapons so that they can defend themselves against citizens who decide to lose it and become sympathizers of terrorism. How does this change what you think you can achieve with gun control?"

Murphy pointed out that "when gunmen walk into crowded places, they kill more people when they have powerful assault weapons."

"And this mythology that you end up killing bad guys by arming good guys just doesn't work," Murphy argued. "Study after study shows you that in communities that have more guns, more people get killed. And the reality is that if you have a gun at home, you are more likely to be killed by it than kill an attacker or someone that's going after your neighbor."

"So, we've got to have a conversation in this country about the kinds of weapons that we make legal because assault weapons are more likely than not going to be used in these mass slaughters rather than used by some citizen to stop someone in one of those situations."

According to Murphy, "one school shooting a week" since the massacre at Newtown Elementary School two years ago "should be enough" evidence that gun control should be part of the discussion.

"Never mind what would happen if a Sydney-style situation happened here in the United States and that individual had a high-powered assault weapon inside one of these facilities," he concluded.

Since passing a strict ban on assault weapons in 1996, Australia has not experienced as single mass shooting.

Watch the video below from CNN's New Day, broadcast Dec. 15, 2014.