Let’s Have a Real Conversation About Solutions for Gun Violence

October 03, 2017

WRITER

People are responding to the shooting in Las Vegas this week with understandable emotion and anger. But their outrage toward gun owners is misplaced – “gun control” will simply mean that powerful people and criminals have access to guns, not the average American.

While taking over for Glenn this week, Doc criticized the hypocrisy of gun control advocates who would never give up their own guns or armed guards.

“What they’re saying is they don’t want you to have a gun,” he said.

Doc listed some real solutions to fight gun violence and help every American.

Better mental health services available to more people

A freer, better economy

More guns in the right hands

Less government oppression and more opportunity

A society that values human life

Do you agree with his list?

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

DOC: Doc Thompson in for Glenn. I'll be with you tomorrow, then Pat Gray will be pinch-hitting on Thursday and Friday as well.

Coming up immediately following this broadcast, on TheBlaze Radio Network, Pat Gray is going to be covering the Alex Jones video from yesterday.

KRIS: He connected the dots. I'm so glad Alex Jones is in our lives.

DOC: I cannot fully do it justice.

KRIS: No.

DOC: I didn't talk about it. I didn't discuss it this morning on our broadcast, on The Morning Blaze because I knew I couldn't do it justice like Pat Gray.

KRIS: Oh, he's so good at it.

DOC: Pat Gray has covered the crazy that is Alex Jones for a while. Even on this program, you know if you're a regular listener of this broadcast that Glenn and Pat and Stu and Jeffy have covered this quite a bit.

Alex offered up some insight to the shooting in Las Vegas.

KRIS: Brilliant.

DOC: And by brilliant, we mean.

KRIS: Amazing.

DOC: And by amazing, we mean crazy.

KRIS: Crazy.

(laughter)

DOC: Even for Alex Jones, this is like crazy. I'm telling you, I'm telling you, here's what's going on!

KRIS: Does it have to do with gay frogs?

DOC: No. But he throws out -- and I'm not going to spoil it for you. He connects a lot of dots --

KAL: It's all about the flicker rate!

(laughter)

DOC: He connects the dots and even brings in a dot that is not a dot, it's so far off the chart. But you're like, okay. All right. There we go.

Pat will cover that today. TheBlazeRadio.com for more information. All right. We'll get some calls. 888-727-BECK. 888-727-BECK. We'll also get to some tweets and some comments from the Facebook as well.

KRIS: Oh, sorry. Yeah. Fell asleep on that one. You have this one. This is interesting, Doc, because you've been very critical of the left.

DOC: I was like, when specifically -- you mean beginning in 1995?

KRIS: The last two hours.

DOC: Oh, yeah. That's true.

KRIS: Very critical. You're mocking them.

DOC: Have I been mocking them?

KRIS: Very mockfully.

DOC: Really? Really?

KRIS: Yes. Yes.

DOC: Okay.

KRIS: Ron brings a good question. And actually I support Ron right here.

DOC: Okay. Let me have it.

KRIS: I've heard a lot of mocking others for offering solutions.

DOC: Yes. Yes. And I'm glad you bring this up. Because we bring up solutions all the time.

KRIS: But none from you. See. You all about blah, blah, blah, blah. What about you?

DOC: Okay. Yes, I'm about the blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't appreciate the high-pitch blah, blah, blah, blah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

KRIS: Yeah.

DOC: Yes, I have solutions to this thing. Are you talking about the shooting in Vegas?

KRIS: Yeah. What's the solution?

DOC: The mass murder. How do we keep that from happening?

KRIS: You have Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico saying gun control.

DOC: Right.

KRIS: You got Jimmy saying, hey, we need to push more gun control.

DOC: Right.

KRIS: So what is your solution, Doc Thompson, go.

DOC: I will offer those solutions now. Let me first say, as far as gun control goes, the reason that is not a solution is because, first of all, when has gun control ever been inclusive of the government or the people in power? Chuck Schumer talks about gun control, and he owns a gun. Lots of these politicians talk about gun control. They own guns. Lots of the political left, the Hollywood, the limousine liberals out there, they talk about gun control. They own guns.

Many of them have security that own guns. They hire security forces with guns. So they're being hypocritical. What they're saying is they don't want you to have a gun.

Gun control has been used to keep you, the masses from having guns. The history of the world is one of oppression. That's the truth.

The history of the world is about some people having power. Now, they can set it up as a dictatorship, an oligarchy, a theocracy, any of these. They can even set it up as a seeming democracy or even a republic. That can happen as well. Because what happens -- well, even an oligarchy, those people in power, whether it's power through money, influence, or an outright dictatorship, theocracy or any of these, they still have access to guns. And they want access to keep you, the masses, from having them. That's the history of the world.

Part of the genius of America was that we would do the best to stave that off, to keep that from happening. And we have, for the most part. There are still those influential powers. Obviously, there's corrupt members of the government and some people that are powerful because of the money and influence they have.

But that's the reason I fight so hard for the Second Amendment and others. Is because as long as it's there, the playing field is level.

Gun control only controls the guns from some. And it's not just the criminals. Of course, the criminals are still going to have them. But also those people in power.

So my solutions, Kris Cruz and --

KRIS: I still don't hear any solutions. Ron.

DOC: -- other guy. Ron. Number one, as far as this guy is concerned and what happened in Vegas, better mental health screenings, better mental health services. And you know where we would get and have about right mental health services? In a redesigned health care system, where we would have access to more medicine. Where all people would have access to medicine because it would be cheap and it would be plentiful. And how do we get that? Less government, less rules, less regulation, and what we have never had when it comes to medicine in America, and that is a free market. The closest we've come is in the infancy of medicine in America, when a person could go to their family doctor out in the country and pay them in -- in a chicken or, you know, a couple dozen eggs or something like that. Or a couple of quarts of honey for fixing their kid. That's about the closest we've come.

A free market health care system would offer better mental health care services. It would be plentiful. It would be cheap.

What else would stop this from happening? A better economy. One of the reasons people go crazy and do these things, one of the trigger points is a bad economy. How do they radicalize people in the extreme -- extremist Muslim countries? How do they radicalize people in America? In the West to join their crazy exploits?

By telling them, how come you don't have more? You're just as good as everybody else. Join us. We'll make you strong. Look, you don't even have anything.

I mean, Kal, your family is from Egypt. The Middle East, a lot of poor people. A lot of poverty.

KAL: Yeah, primarily poor.

DOC: And because of that, a lack of education, a lack of money. People are easy to be preyed upon, to be radicalized, because they say, you don't have.

A better economy and better education through a better economy and less government rules and regulations and a free market, provides for more money and opportunity for people.

A secure border. How else have people attacked people in America? By bringing guns or bad people to America, when we don't know who they are or what they have.

Secure the border. What else would help? More guns! Yeah, sounds kind of counterintuitive. More guns likely wouldn't have happened -- or excuse me, wouldn't have helped with what happened on Sunday night in Las Vegas. Because the guy was in a room. More guns on the street from the average person probably wouldn't be able to stop him, but a lot of these other cases -- Adam Lanza. How about Cho at Virginia Tech? How about the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, with James Holmes? These were all gun-free zones. They were all gun-free zones.

There were no guns, except for the illegally gotten guns from those criminals who had nefarious intent.

More guns in those places would have at least given the opportunity for people to stop the rampage of those knuckleheads.

By the way, most casinos are gun-free zones. Not that he shot people in the casino. But he was in a hotel. Did it stop him from taking the gun in the hotel?

No. So more guns is something. What also helped? A less oppressive government. What do I mean by that?

I mean with a less oppressive government, I get to make more decisions for myself. I get to have more money and keep more money. To make my life and my family better. More education. More opportunity. And a government that will stop pissing me off by telling me how I'm supposed to raise my children and run my life. Because that is less of a trigger.

And finally, when it comes to some of this stuff, better police work. I'm not criticizing the cops. Cops do a pretty good job. But their hands are tied quite often because of police unions and the political left telling them that they're bad and they're just indiscriminately shooting people. Or even worse, purposefully shooting people and killing them because of their race. Better police work and more respect.

And finally, more appreciation for life. And we get that by recognizing our higher power and being more thankful of what we have. Human life is cheap in most parts of the world. Human life doesn't count for much. They don't value it. It just doesn't matter.

We've always valued it in America because we have that higher power and different covenants with God. We help each other.

The history of America is people getting together for barn buildings, to help their neighbor. In times of crisis, look at what happened with Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma and even now with Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Americans help people. Americans help the world. America has saved the world countless time from bad guys.

So more faith and more appreciation for what we have. And a little more respect from our neighbors. These things will all stop some of this violence from happening. But you've got to remember one thing: Nothing will stop all of it. There will always be some bad.

We can tamp most of it down. We can get rid of most of it with the things I just mentioned. But there will always be some. And at those times, we have to fight against the natural knee-jerk reaction from a lot of the people we've discussed today on the air, to say, "Something must be done," as they wring their hands and call for more oppression.

Government oppression has led to more bad than guns. So when those rare cases under the system I just discussed, happen, we have to make sure we don't join with those people who are obviously upset, emotional because of the circumstances and say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold it. Mourn. Be upset. Get the information. Get closure. All of that's therapy. That's fine. But stop right now, before you make a knee-jerk reaction, based on your emotions."

As long as the imminent threat is gone, hold it. Wait. Stop. We can discuss this. We can move ahead. Because most of what you want to do is a slippery slope that's going to bring about a lot more bad.

There's a story at TheBlaze.com. I have had my differences with Bill O'Reilly over the years. Seems like a nice guy. I think I met him one time. I don't agree with a lot of what Bill says. And I agree with some of what he says. But I've had differences. But one of the smartest things Bill has said is a story that's posted at TheBlaze.com. Bill O'Reilly said of this tragedy -- and I'm paraphrasing, but this is the price of freedom. Some bad will always happen in a free society. But good people will keep a lot of it from happening. And when it does, we'll make sure that there are the best circumstances in that bad.

This is the price for freedom. If you're willing to give up some freedom because of some bad, you will end up with neither safety and security, nor freedom. To paraphrase Ben Franklin. Back in a minute with more on the Glenn Beck Program.

Breaking point: Will America stand up to the mob?

Jeff J Mitchell / Staff | Getty Images

The mob rises where men of courage fall silent. The lesson from Portland, Chicago, and other blue cities is simple: Appeasing radicals doesn’t buy peace — it only rents humiliation.

Parts of America, like Portland and Chicago, now resemble occupied territory. Progressive city governments have surrendered control to street militias, leaving citizens, journalists, and even federal officers to face violent anarchists without protection.

Take Portland, where Antifa has terrorized the city for more than 100 consecutive nights. Federal officers trying to keep order face nightly assaults while local officials do nothing. Independent journalists, such as Nick Sortor, have even been arrested for documenting the chaos. Sortor and Blaze News reporter Julio Rosas later testified at the White House about Antifa’s violence — testimony that corporate media outlets buried.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

Chicago offers the same grim picture. Federal agents have been stalked, ambushed, and denied backup from local police while under siege from mobs. Calls for help went unanswered, putting lives in danger. This is more than disorder; it is open defiance of federal authority and a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

A history of violence

For years, the legacy media and left-wing think tanks have portrayed Antifa as “decentralized” and “leaderless.” The opposite is true. Antifa is organized, disciplined, and well-funded. Groups like Rose City Antifa in Oregon, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club in Texas, and Jane’s Revenge operate as coordinated street militias. Legal fronts such as the National Lawyers Guild provide protection, while crowdfunding networks and international supporters funnel money directly to the movement.

The claim that Antifa lacks structure is a convenient myth — one that’s cost Americans dearly.

History reminds us what happens when mobs go unchecked. The French Revolution, Weimar Germany, Mao’s Red Guards — every one began with chaos on the streets. But it wasn’t random. Today’s radicals follow the same playbook: Exploit disorder, intimidate opponents, and seize moral power while the state looks away.

Dismember the dragon

The Trump administration’s decision to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization was long overdue. The label finally acknowledged what citizens already knew: Antifa functions as a militant enterprise, recruiting and radicalizing youth for coordinated violence nationwide.

But naming the threat isn’t enough. The movement’s financiers, organizers, and enablers must also face justice. Every dollar that funds Antifa’s destruction should be traced, seized, and exposed.

AFP Contributor / Contributor | Getty Images

This fight transcends party lines. It’s not about left versus right; it’s about civilization versus anarchy. When politicians and judges excuse or ignore mob violence, they imperil the republic itself. Americans must reject silence and cowardice while street militias operate with impunity.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened. The violence in Portland and Chicago is deliberate, not spontaneous. If America fails to confront it decisively, the price won’t just be broken cities — it will be the erosion of the republic itself.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins Megyn Kelly LIVE — One night ONLY in Fort Worth!

Get ready for sparks to fly. For the first time in years, Glenn will come face-to-face with Megyn Kelly — and this time, he’s the one in the hot seat. On October 25, 2025, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Glenn joins Megyn on her “Megyn Kelly Live Tour” for a no-holds-barred conversation that promises laughs, surprises, and maybe even a few uncomfortable questions.

What will happen when two of America’s sharpest voices collide under the spotlight? Will Glenn finally reveal the major announcement he’s been teasing on the radio for weeks? You’ll have to be there to find out.

This promises to be more than just an interview — it’s a live showdown packed with wit, honesty, and the kind of energy you can only feel if you are in the room. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance to see Glenn like you’ve never seen him before.

Get your tickets NOW at www.MegynKelly.com before they’re gone!

What our response to Israel reveals about us

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

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