Joy Reid stayed in on July 4th because she's afraid of guns, gets triggered by fireworks

During her post-Independence Day broadcast, MSNBC's Joy Reid said that she had not gone out the night before to celebrate, claming that to do so would have been "insane." 

She explained that fear of firearm-related violence had kept her indoors, and questioned why anyone would want to take part in a mass gathering at a time when the United States was "awash with guns."



"I have to say, I did not go out on July 4, and would not," Reid told her guest, author and ex-firearms industry insider Ryan Busse. "The idea of going to a mass gathering, a parade, or a big fireworks thing outside seems insane to me, to be blunt, in America."

"America is awash with guns," she continued, "and now people don't just have them, they seem to want to shoot people with them and use them for whatever."

When asked why he thinks America has turned into a "shooting range," Busse pointed to the rise in gun ownership over the past 20 years, calling it "the test of our democracy."

"The right to own firearms is an immensely powerful thing," he added. "In fact, nothing is more targeted at the ability to remove the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of fellow citizens in a second or two, dozens of them as we have seen than the right to own firearms." 

There were 16 mass shootings reported in the United States during the Fourth of July long weekend, taking place in 13 states and Washington, DC. For the vast majority of the country, however, celebrations took place without violence.

In Reid's home of New York City, twelve people were injured and two were killed as the result of gun violence on July 4. While she painted a picture of the holiday becoming more dangerous, Mayor Eric Adams pointed to the numbers and deemed it "one of the safest in 19 years."