Piers Morgan: Alex Jones' hatred is 'scary'

Piers Morgan fired back Tuesday at radio host Alex Jones, a day after their bizarre and combative exchange on CNN.

Morgan, who's become enemy No. 1 of the NRA in recent weeks for his aggressive support of gun laws, told Politco.com that Jones' appearance on "Piers Morgan Tonight" on Monday generated "a slew of social media buzz. The best advertisement for gun control you could wish for."

"That kind of vitriol, hatred, and zealotry is really quite scary. I didn't feel threatened by him, but I'm concerned that someone like him has that level of influence," Morgan told Politico. "There's got to be a level of discourse that can rise above what happened last night. It was undignified, unedifying."

During Jones' on-air rant, he said, "1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms! It doesn't matter how many lemmings (mindless followers) you get out on the street begging for them to have their guns taken! We will not relinquish them!"

Before the segment began, Morgan said he was in favor of banning military-like semiautomatic weapons. He's pushed for stricter gun control regulations since the shooting in Newtown, Conn. where a gunman killed 27 people and himself, inside of an elementary school.

A few weeks ago, Morgan went off on Larry Pratt, the executive director of the Gun Owners of America, during a segment on gun control. He called Pratt a "stupid man" and a "dangerous man."