Piers Morgan accused of being a 'redcoat' in TV interview with man who wants to ... - Telegraph.co.uk

"I'm here to tell you, 1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms. We will not relinquish them. Do you understand?"

Mr Morgan, who has hosted CNN Tonight for almost two years, has been outspoken over the US's gun laws in the wake of several massacres, most recently the murders of 20 schoolchildren at Sandy Hook elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

His stance has angered the pro-gun lobby who have petitioned the White House to have the former Daily Mirror editor deported from the country. The petition has attracted more than 60,000 signatures.

On Monday night Mr Morgan invited Mr Jones, the organiser of the petition onto his show for a debate which ultimately descended into a one-sided rant leaving the normally talkative Mr Morgan silent for long periods of time.

At one point Mr Jones suggested the pair have a boxing match and when Mr Morgan asks him about the number of gun murders there were in Britain last year, he responds: "How many chimpanzees can dance on the head of a pin?"

In another particularly bizarre exchange, Mr Jones, who claims to own more than 50 firearms, begins impersonating Mr Morgan's British accent and then quotes from a 2009 Daily Telegraph article which labels the UK the violent crime capital of Europe.

Continuing his attack on the UK, Mr Jones added: "You have got hordes of people burning down cities and beating old women's brains out every day."

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph after the interview, Mr Morgan admitted it was "not easy" keeping calm in the face of such a rant, but added: "I have been accused of not giving the gun rights people a fair hearing and being a bit overbearing and rude to them.

"This time I tried a different tact of being courteous and allowing him to have his say and I realised that he was just going to go off on an extended rant which would speak volumes. I think by the end of it he had become the single best advertisement for gun control."

Mr Jones' rant came as Gabrielle Giffords, he former US congresswoman who survived a gunshot wound to her head during a mass shooting, launched a campaign against gun violence.

In an article for the newspaper USA today, Ms Giffords announced the launch of Americans for Responsible Solutions, an initiative which aims to raise money for gun control Ms Giffords wrote: "In response to a horrific series of shootings... Congress has done something quite extraordinary - nothing at all."

Ms Giffords said that she hopes her initiative will ultimately match the the influence of the gun lobby, particularly the influential National Rifle Association (NRA). She added: "Achieving reforms to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings will mean matching gun lobbyists in their reach and resources."

Following the Sandy Hook massacre, vice president Joe Biden is leading a task force which will examine the potential for changes in America's gun laws. The NRA has called for armed guards in schools.