Chris Matthews: NRA Sometimes 'Good People Doing Bad Things'

Average members of the NRA aren't criminals, but their opposition to stricter gun laws enables "bad people" to obtain guns — such as the Washington Navy Yard shooter, MSNBC's Chris Matthews said.

"These could be good people doing bad things," Matthews said Monday on "Hardball."

"The United States has a hell of a lot of guns. It has a hell of a lot of gun owners, not just NRA members," the MSNBC host said. "A hell of a lot of guns in the hands of a hell of a lot of people, and it's very easy to get a gun. The question is, what makes us uniquely bad in that direction?"

Guest Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said the problem lies in the refusal of the United States to regulate guns.

"People in the United Kingdom are not more mentally ill than we are. They watch the same video games and movies," Glaze said. But the U.K. has 45 to 50 firearm homicides per year, while the United States has about 12,000.