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BREAKING: CNN Cancels Piers Morgan’s Prime Time Show

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“There have been times when the CNN host Piers Morgan didn’t seem to like America very much,” David Carr at nytimes.com opines, “and American audiences have been more than willing to return the favor. Three years after taking over for Larry King, Mr. Morgan has seen the ratings for “Piers Morgan Live” hit some new lows, drawing a fraction of viewers compared with competitors at Fox News and MSNBC.” And so BOOM! He’s gone. From Piers Morgan Live anyway. “It’s been an unhappy collision between a British television personality who refuses to assimilate — the only football he cares about is round and his lectures on guns were rife with contempt — and a CNN audience that is intrinsically provincial. After all, the people who tune into a cable news network are, by their nature, deeply interested in America.” In other words, his incessant anti-gun views were unpopular. Who saw that coming? Why Piers Morgan of course . . .

“Look, I am a British guy debating American cultural issues, including guns, which has been very polarizing, and there is no doubt that there are many in the audience who are tired of me banging on about it,” he said. “That’s run its course and Jeff and I have been talking for some time about different ways of using me.”

I’m sure our readers would have some suggestions on that front. Unfortunately our new commenting policy prohibits ad hominem attacks. So I’ll just say this about that: Mr. Morgan’s greatest failure was his inability to understand that elitism is not popular on this side of the pond, no matter how self-righteous its proponent.

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “BREAKING: CNN Cancels Piers Morgan’s Prime Time Show”

  1. Sounds trashy. I worked with a girl who named her sons Dodge and Diesel. I also know of dudes named Tylenol, Shith-ead, and Lemonjello…

    I would name my kids KSG and Rhino60DS causes they don’t exist.

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  2. Winkler apparently believes his own rhetoric. In places where OC is usual and customary nobody gives a damn if they see someone with a gun. Making it so in California will have the same effect.

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  3. These people spend so much time trying to figure out obscure ways to screw gun owners over. Why don’t these people spend some time working to end poverty, help those in need or some other tasks? (without taking my entire paycheck)

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      • Brits don’t want him back either. Probably will go to MSNBC, or to the other bogus network Fox News. Either will he’ll be surroiunded by fellow douchebags, whether they be lefty Chis Matthews or neocon wannabe pretty bor bitch Sean Vannity

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  4. What if, instead of freemen voting with their feet (leaving a tyrant state), there was instead an influx of freemen into the tyrant state to oppose the tyranny where it lives….? Nip it in the bud. Kill it in the crib. Make an example for the Feds to chew on…

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  5. finally we’ve got rid of that dime store rag writter! can I get an amen from all the positive law abiding gun owners in America and that’s right Pierce I said Americans! maybe Mr Pierce Morgan can get a job at like McDonalds or Burger King just remember this Pierce do you want fries with that? now if we can only clean up a little bit more this media liberal lefty travesty that’s going on every day on our news channels! the people have spoken and they’re sick of CNN having that ass clown of a newscaster that’s not even a American citizen makeup as he goes along what would be best for our country!

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  6. If they don’t legalize something, they might get something legalized for them.

    It’s pretty wild to actually have the law on our side for a change!

    As for police hassling people, a few lawsuits would fix that. And with businesses refusing to serve you, where there is a demand, someone will fill it. People carrying guns would still be able to buy groceries and coffee and sandwiches from someone. Your money is still the right color.

    So by all means… let’s go with open carry. In fact, do it RIGHT NOW (before legal tapdancing finds a way to screw it up)!

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  7. Fine to suggest people use real bullets, but you sound like a child when you describe home intruders like they’re villains in superhero movies…. crazed homicidal maniacs who kill people after being shot straight through the heart. Ridiculous. This kind of nonsense is what gives credence to the term “gun nut.”

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  8. It is good that he is gone. However, don’t cheer too loudly until you see his replacement. This isn’t a sign that CNN’s I.Q has risen into triple digits. It’s only a sign that CNN’s income has fallen several digits.

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  9. That’s fucking awesome. Consider that the guy admits to plummeting ratings. Maybe even the people watching CNN are not as hopeless as previously thought.

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    • I wouldn’t be so sure. Dollars to donuts the falling ratings were those who weren’t completely hopeless leaving CNN for something actually worth watching.

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      • Well…wouldn’t that be the same thing? If folks never tune in to CNN then my point stands. Whether it was Piers Morgan or the content of the network in general, tuning away means there must be still hope.

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    • I see you’ve thoroughly confused the NRA with CNN and the obstructionist civilian disarmament industrial complex (i.e. everyone and every organization dedicated to gun control).

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  10. If it’s a legitimate name you like or a name that has some serious significance to you, which happens also to be a firearms-related name, then that’s just coincidental and there’s nothing odd or unbecoming about it. If it’s not a legitimate first name in its own right, or if it is, but only in some other culture, and the only real reason you’ve chosen it is because it’s firearm related, then that’s pretty lame.

    A name like “Gunner” is great for many dogs and doesn’t make a half-bad nickname for a young man, but a first name for a boy? Ridiculous in this culture.

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  11. About time.

    Honestly, I find some of CNN’s shows (like Crossfire) to be thought provoking and I find much of Fox’s programming to be filled with smarmy people who are too sure of their own importance. I know I’m not supposed to say that… CNN does admittedly lean left more often that not. But still, I’m just as happy as the rest of ya’ to see Morgan seeking a new job. He’s hated us since he got here… so let’s ship him back across the Atlantic.

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  12. RF, now don’t ban me from any future commenting please …. BUT …. what if you were to offer Mr. Ignoramus an occasional blogger job here at TTAG? Serious. My dad used to say, you should always know where your enemies are. So if we know that he is going to show up here, occasionally, then we can keep a finger on the pulse of the anti’s so to say.

    Just a thought …. now I’ll go back to watching the Olympic closing ceremony 🙂

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    • All he would give us is a transcript of every show he ever did. They’re all the same. So what would he do for the second post? A copy of the first post. And so on to infinity…

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    • I second the motion. We all know, as does PM, that the only reason he had any viewers at all is that enough gun owners were disgusted by him that they had to watch the train wreck while it happened. PM, being the media equivalent of an internet troll, kept on the issue of guns because it got people talking about his show. Let him pimp it here!

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  13. I am actually hoping now that with his new freedom from work (like ObamaCare liberates the masses and allows more time with the families), Piers gets to spend a little free time in the middle of the day without armed security and car service in NYC and gets to watch his wife, well, become popular with the locals. . . . .

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  14. He promised us that if the big gun-control didn’t pass in the Senate, that he would go back to the UK. You didn’t go then, Piers. How about NOW?

    Can they deport him, if he doesn’t have any means of support here (no job)?

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    • Brilliant! As a dunk tank clown or pie in the face target at pro-gun venues Piers could make a fortune!

      Is there any among us who wouldn’t pony up a few dollars for a good cause and the opportunity to dunk PM?

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  15. I hope he keeps a job here in the US 🙂 (Yeah Right (sarc)), because if not I think deportation is in order. Doesn’t he have some legal issues in the UK.

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  16. PM had John Lott on his show and treated him horribly, rudely and contemptuously…I hope Mr. Lott is drinking a tall, frosty Sam Adams Boston Lager to the welcome news this get has lost his show. As for PM’s future at CNN…I suggest Parking Lot Attendant, toilet scrubber, paperweight…but, I won’t be surprised if they put someone worse in that slot. PM is just a spot, CNN is the whole Leopard.

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  17. I can’t listen to him for more than three minutes without wanting to say horrible things about him, his mother, and his entire family, country, belief system and way of life. So I’ll stop listening at about 2:30 with the assurance that Piers Morgan hasn’t changed.

    Where’s Jeremy Clarkson when you need him?

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  18. I bought one of these rifled barrels, a 4′ 2″ SCH-80 with the screw in attachment put on. It’s well made and nice and heavy. The muzzle knife was well done too, but I just end up cutting the potatoes with that, popping them out, and then sticking them in the breach. It’s hard to shove them down the grooved barrel without pulverizing them.

    The effect is great all around. Good investment. I’d buy another one.

    I’ve got a well balanced combustion gun, and with this I can shoot about 250 yards (300 if it catches a draft) and the potato makes it about 2/3 of that before it starts to tumble, if it does at all. At close range, it blows nice clean holes through 1-1/2 inches of plywood and keeps going at a respectable clip. For shits and giggles, I shot it at a stack of bricks a few times and managed to crack them… a couple all the way through… with potatoes.

    The fun factor is WELL worth the price.

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  19. Different way of using him? I’m thinking something in custodial services. Gun control issues were not what polarized viewers, but rather his anti-American rhetoric. I’m impressed that he managed to last this long. There may be hope for CNN yet.

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  20. She should have left the gun where it was and called the police and just waited for them to arrive… while the perp then kicks the door in and beats them both to death — oh, wait!

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  21. I Don’t think that’s a PP-19 that ay be a Grozna SMG. I do love the Bison wish they make a PCC in 9x18mm and be fun to use for 3 gun matches. but no importation yet.

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  22. I guess his next stop will be Australia.

    He hates the US (and we’re happy to share his sentiment right back )and has burnt too many bridges in England.

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  23. I don’t care for that laser engraving logo either. The original logo should be good enough. The thing is it’s only engraved on the finish not into the metal. It can easily be sand blasted off and refinished.

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  24. “Very few gun owners want to carry openly displayed guns. The police hassle you, stores refuse to serve you and some people won’t talk to you. Criminals might even target you, seeking to steal your expensive sidearm.”

    This must happen in Texas ALL the time. We don’t want this at all (wink wink).

    Open carrying is different from brandishing there chief…

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    • Actually, hasn’t there been a meteorological disturbance of poop lately in Texas over Open Carry? IIRC, it’s illegal there (in spite of Texas’ reputation) and even concealed carry isn’t as easy to do there as it is my Yankee state.
      But the Open Carry thing – that’s been a campaign talking point lately in Texas.

      No offense to Texans. Just sayin’…

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  25. The hits keep on coming! The 9th rules the 2nd exists outside the home, and CNN fires their America bashing cabana boy. I can only hope his visa gets pulled, he gets deported back to the UK, and goes to jail.

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  26. Okay does anyone have an image of the left side of the receiver? I did a search and could only find a couple but those were early pictures from last year but concrpts change begore they are finally put on the market. Original has no logo on the mag well just FN-15, Multi, and serial number. Real clean. I hope it still looks the same. Hey Chris Dunn could you please post some pictures of the left side?

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  27. A perp wouldn’t want to badger the 75 year old lady I took my CC class with either, she didn’t see herself as a helpless victim.

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  28. I always thought that in a less restrictive world, an ultra high capacity full auto suppressed .25 or .32 would make an ideal home defense weapon. Say, 1200+ rounds per minute, and a 300 round magazine loaded with .25, a serial shotgun, basically. The helical magazine would be a way to get that capacity without absurd bulk.

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  29. California law on firearms ownership and carry remains in the state of flux. The gravamen of Richards v. Prieto, currently under appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court, is whether or not the Constitution protects the carry of loaded firearms. According to the currently standing ruling in that case, under the statutory scheme, even without a CCW permit we are “still more than free to keep an unloaded weapon nearby their person, load it, and use it for self-defense in circumstances that may occur in a public setting”.

    Under California state law, a firearm is unloaded whenever it doesn’t have ammunition “placed into a position from which it can be fired”, per People v. Clark (1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 1147, 53 Cal.Rptr.2d 99. Technically, this includes any clip- or magazine-fed weapon with a loaded clip or magazine attached, but the chamber kept empty, a.k.a. the Israeli carry. I’d settle for that, but middle-class morality is bound to get affronted by exhibitionism and revert to licensed discreet carry. In the meantime, I hope and wish for the advocates of run rights to be more supportive of individual open carry protests in the future. For one thing, their part in bringing about recently enacted UOC bans saved the Ninth Circuit the bother of ruling whether or not an unloaded firearm can be “operable” within the meaning of Heller.

    http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=235165
    http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=235631
    http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=236571

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  30. Maybe when folks stop watching the tonight show , since they replaced, (forced out ) , Jay Leno , with that idiot Jimmy Fallon , ole Pierce could get a job there at least we know where he comes from and we love to hate him , and that would make a lot of folks tune in just to give him a hard time . Be prepared and ready. Keep your powder dry.

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  31. State leo somewhere stops a 70 something for speeding. As she is giving him her license he notices a gun permit and asks if she has a gun. She tells him she has a 45 in the glove box. He asks if there is anything else he needs to know about. She tells him she has a G19 in the center console. ONe more time he asks and she tells him she has a 38 snubbie in her purse. He asks, “Lady, what are you afraid of.” She tells him “Officer, I’m not afraid of anything.”

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  32. “With smaller calibers even hits directly on the heart may not stop a Bad Guy’s return fire for a minute or even longer before he bleeds out. ”

    -Here we come to a logical problem.

    As the recent video of a state trooper shooting illustrates, even a hit in the chest with a .40 S&W duty round to the heart won’t stop an attacker. The guy , fortunately, decided to drive away and die a mile down the road instead of spending his last moments of life trying to kill the cop.

    If a hit to the heart muscle itself won’t halt an attack, don’t plan on a pelvic hit doing so too. Even if the bad guy is shot in the lower spine and dropped where he stands, he still has eyes ,his arms, and a weapon. Which means he can still put you in the dirt.

    My amateur opinion- two the the chest, and if those don’t get the point across, it’s time to turn off the lights via a headshot. Even if my girly, wuss round 9mm +p+ JHP hits the bad guys skull and skids away, a hit to the head tends to scramble the senses at the very least- which buys me time for the follow up hit.

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  33. I have a question, some including me who have only shot very few times when invited by friends, came up with the upper center? The Manibrium Sternum to be exact, major nerve endings, arteries go through the area…Kind a the head of an eagle if you count the clavicles.

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  34. Wow, Your article is compelling and logically sound. I think you offer good advice and a sound view point. However, I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding.
    In swordsmanship, we train to cut by cutting rolled Japanese floor mats called Tatami mats. Each matt ends up as a target 3 foot tall and 6 to 8 inches in diameter on a 2 foot tall stand. We typically practice a 6 cut pattern starting at the top of the target and ending at the bottom. However, that does not mean that all opponents in a sword fight should be struck 6 times or from top to bottom or that all opponents are 5 foot tall, or 8 inches in diameter. The purpose of this training, and range based firearms training, is to use standardized targets that can be judged and are uniform to allow a person to build up muscle memory so that the mechanical actions of getting the sword, or gun, on target are without thought. The target is not an opponent. It is a standardized place holder. Muscle memory frees the brain to adjust targeting to suite the situation and tactics.
    I believe that this is where this mythical X is coming from as well. Where the X actually is, is of very little importance. The point is that the X be somewhere easy to judge accuracy, like the center of a page to give the best show of shot spread, that it be uniform so that many different people can train at many different ranges and still compare results, and suggest improvements to technic. The purpose of training is not to train to always hit the X. That is backwards.
    The purpose of the X is to give you a standard place to train to always hit in a controlled environment. That way all those things you are doing on the range to hit the X are the things you do without thought when you are actually defending yourself. I completely agree with your assertion that there are advantageous places to aim when defending yourself. The point of martial training is not to train to specifically hit points, it is to practice the strike and reach a level of experience where the strike comes without thought. I think that in the firearms industry this key detail has either been forgotten over time or is meant to be hidden in the rhetoric tongue and cheek.
    ‘X’ Targets also make money sense to teachers. Mechanically speaking people who are trying to teach large classes need the logistically smallest target system that can fit the most people on the range with the least complexity. I don’t believe these ‘experts’ are intentionally misleading students. I think that the X marks the spot target is the highest value, lowest cost, widest usable solution for firearms training.
    People need to remember in their practice. The most important thing is not hitting the X. The X is just giving you a place to practice hitting and compare results in a controlled environment. Targeting will have to be adjusted according to the defense situation.
    The opinions expressed are my own. I am no high speed operator expert know it all either, just a swordsman trying to navigate a world of guns. The one thing I revel in is getting a chance to explain the old ways. I have always thought it was sad that in America there is no, ‘Gun-man-ship’ for lack of a better word.
    Please understand, I don’t mean marksmanship. I mean, I think it is kind of strange that almost every family in America doesn’t have their own, handed down, system that teaches carrying, etiquette, safe handling, maintenance, deployment, defense tactics, and marksmanship of firearms. Further that there is almost a societal aversion to firearms training, every time I have tried to track down a comprehensive class environment they always seem to be thousands of miles away and cost thousands of dollars to attend. I think training needs to be far more democratized and acceptable. I don’t mean that as an assessment of general gun owners’ skill levels, far from it. Training should be more available not because i think people are poorly trained, but because I think people should be able to be proud of owning guns, as responsible members of society. Not forced to hide and treated like miscreants. Americans should be able to celebrate their history of guns.
    YMMV.

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  35. The Fairbairn and ‘old coots’ comment reflect real world experience. Here’s another from boxing:

    Ever been punched in the chest?
    How about the skull?
    Now…the nuts?
    Or diaphram?

    Think I’ll be trying this out as alternatives.

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  36. I’m a graduate of some pretty prominent military marksmenship programs and some civilian ones to boot. This technique is pretty valid but it’s never been tought as a primary point of attack. As the author astutely points out, COM shots statistically favor the shooter as you are aiming at the biggest portion of the threat and this is more likely to land rounds on target.

    Where this method has been introduced in the schools I have attended is as an alternate to the ‘Mozambique’ drill of two to the chest, one to the head. The head is a pretty small damn target. If the threat is still advancing after shots COM, pelvic shots are an option to disrupt the targets body mechanics and put them on the ground.

    It’s never been taught as the primary technique, it’s just been presented as an alternative, maybe even tertiary option in the chain of events: COM, still a threat; head (still advancing/perhaps missed); pelvis to stop the advance and give time to seek cover/place better finishing shots.

    A million ways to skin a cat…

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  37. Unfortunately you have to defend his right to say that. As you pile on exceptions that will only lead to other exceptions. Once you have exceptions to the first, why not exceptions to the second?

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  38. FYI, Glock does offer nite sights on their offerings. You can also go to Smyrna and have them furnished and installed for the low low price of $57.

    Reply

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