Ben Carson: "What is the reason for the Second Amendment?"
Former GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson seems to be reconsidering the role of the Second Amendment in the U.S. now, nearly two weeks after the deadly Orlando terrorist attack that killed 49 people at Pulse nightclub.
In an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Thursday, Carson also discussed Wednesday's 24-hour Democratic House sit-in to pressure Republican leaders for a House vote on gun control legislation.
"I think the people who are protesting certainly feel that they are absolutely, 100 percent right," Carson said about the Democrats on the House floor.
"But of course the people on the other side feel that they're 100 percent right too," the Donald Trump surrogate added. "That's why we need to get back to a point of having civil discussion."
Carson, who has long argued for the sanctity of the Second Amendment, now seems to be calling for a debate on the issue.
"Let's put on the table -- what is the reason for the Second Amendment?" he said. "And, is there a reason that we need to change those things right now?"
"Let's put the data on the table and let's talk about it like intelligent people rather than getting in our respective corners and hurling insults," he suggested. "We'll never solve anything that way."
Carson's comments this week on guns are less rigid than while he was running for president.
In an interview with John Dickerson on "Face the Nation" in October Carson said gun rights were necessary for preventing tyranny.
"They're in place to make sure people maintain their liberties and that the government remains constrained," Carson told Dickerson. "Those are the two purposes."
Democrats have been publicly pressuring Republicans in Congress for votes on expanded universal background checks, gun bans for those already on a no-fly list and an assault weapons ban.
Before this week's sit-in in the House, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, held a 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor last Thursday only to have four control measures fail there later.
Republicans argue the restrictions would unfairly restrict constitutional freedoms and would abandon due process of law.