Miss South Carolina Daja Dial said she would not support a ban on certain types of firearms during Sunday's Miss America pageant.
When Dial was asked if she would support "a ban on military-style assault weapons" since "gun violence continues to be a tragic problem" in the United States, Dial said she would not. Instead, she advocated for more gun safety training.
"I don't," Dial said. "But I think it's because we need to increase education. We have to go back there. If we teach people the proper way to use guns, then we will reduce the risk of having gun-related accidents."
"It starts with education."
The Washington Post's Philip Bump, who admitted to being a "jerk" in the same piece, did not like the pro-gun answer. Bump prefered Miss Tennessee Hannah Robison's answer, which erroneously said Planned Parenthood performed mammograms while defending its public funding.
Dial ended up losing the crown to Miss Georgia, Betty Cantrell. She will be taking a year off from school to host events as Miss South Carolina. After that, she said she plans to return to Clemson University, where she is a cheerleader.