Deport Piers Morgan? Some say yes

• Thousands of Americans sign petitions on the White House website
• The Briton expressed strong anti-gun views on his CNN talk show
• Morgan has been tweeting up a storm since the petitions appeared

Oh boy, wait until the British chattering classes hear this: A large number of Americans have signed White House petitions to deport British citizen Piers Morgan because he criticized America's gun-loving culture on his CNN talk show.

Can they do that? Not bloody likely, but people are having nasty fun with the idea anyway, while Morgan is treating it with his characteristic amused disdain. And his CNN show gets more attention.

Morgan's many enemies among the British media would not be too happy to see him back, but they probably don't have to worry.

A foreigner already a resident in the USA, with a green card and authorization to work, could be deported for, say, committing a serious crime or being a communist. But it's unlikely he could be run out just for expressing an opinion on TV.

Still, more than 44,000 people have signed two petitions on the White House website, calling for Morgan to be deported for "attacking" the Second Amendment after the Newtown massacre, in which 20 children were among those shot to death.

"We demand that Mr. Morgan be deported immediately for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens," one petition reads.

The petitioners seem to be serious, but there have been some fairly wacky petitions filed on the White House's We the People Web page. So far, no response from the Obama administration.

Like many Brits of all political persuasions, Morgan says America's attitude toward guns is nuts. Last week, when he interviewed Larry Pratt, director of Gun Owners of America, the conversation got hot.

"You're an unbelievably stupid man, aren't you?" Morgan said at one point.

Rude, but nothing unusual in the British media, which has regularly attacked Morgan for, among other things, his alleged involvement in the British phone-hacking scandal (he denies it). But rudeness isn't a ground for deportation either.

Morgan, a prolific user of Twitter, has been tweeting up a storm since the petitions appeared. Words like "ridiculous" and "goon" and "bring it on!" have been mentioned in his feed. He joked about anchoring his show from Jamaica if he were deported. But he also posted serious arguments, or as serious as you can get in 140 characters.

"Wanting America to ban assault weapons & high-capacity magazines isn't 'anti-constitutional' -- it's called 'common sense," he tweeted today.