Yesterday’s Daily Digest included a link to National Public Radio‘s Armed ‘Good Guys’ And The Realities Of Facing A Gunman, a fair and balanced report on a defensive gun use. Earlier today, Morning Edition aired TTAG’s contributor rabbi’s defence of Sheriff David Clark’s call for armed citizens. Today, NPR ran a piece called Are Shooting Ranges The New Bowling Alleys? that only gave a nod to VPC civilian disarmament agitator Josh Sugarman (“Bowling alleys pose no lethal threat to participants; shooting ranges pose a risk to users”). And now TTAG reader Rossi reports on another even-handed look at firearms in “Gun Stories.” (Make the jump for his description of the piece.) It’s almost enough to make a right-thinking conservative reconsider his or her opposition to the network’s taxpayer subsidies. Almost . . .
It looks like NPR is trying very hard to maintain the appearance of balance. I was listening to their show “The Story” today, and the episode was named “Gun Stories.” (You can find the web page for that episode here and the complete audio file here.) The first 21 minutes of the show were narration about, and an interview with, Joel Myrick, who was the assistant principal (and first responder) at the 1997 Pearl High School shooting.
At the end of the interview, they gave him eight and a half minutes to talk about his view on guns, society, and armed guards in schools. There were no combative interruptions, and no cutting him into out of context soundbites. He honestly got to say his piece. Not everything he says is TTAG (i.e. there’s a a bit of Jeanne Assam‘s “I’m exceptional” attitude), but the intervew is REALLY worth listening to….it’s golden, IMHO.
He covered a lot of good points:
- “guns are not bad”
- this society is violent, and removing guns would not change that
- the cases we hear about in the news are not representative; in 99% of cases (his statistic) the situation is averted because of a gun
- we already protect the things we care about with guns
- having an armed School Defense Officer would be no more discomforting than having an armed officer at a mall or stadium
- He even discusses Cooper’s 4th law (although not referencing it) when he talks about not taking a shot because the background was not safe.
They did follow his story with two minutes of someone who had decided to give up guns, but 21 min vs. two is an AMAZING balance.
Whether you use it or not, you really ought to take the time to listen to this. Like I said before, the interview piece is at the front of the episode, and the last 8.5 minutes of it is the best part.
There were a lot of mildly positive to neutral things embedded into today’s episode of Morning Edition, – enough that I probably would have written about them – but nothing as good as the stuff linked to above.
I also watched this earlier, and would have rather had Senator Cruz ask the police chief sitting at the desk those questions. Not because WLP is a terrible spokesman (and he is) but watching the anti gun PC try and explain why cometic features make one gun more dangerous than another!
I swear I’m not nit-picking, but you spelled despicable wrong in the section Making Rhode Island Safer.
Your piece is well written and compelling, hopefully it will get through the fog that seems to cloud so many when it comes to gun issues.
Well done sir!
Given the fact that 60% (or so) of journalists describe themselves as liberal or moderate, and less than 10% describe themselves as conservative I don’t think NPR does a bad job, most of the time. That said I’m a little biased.
Also, while I don’t believe in publicly funding much any corporations, I tend to start with the tens of billions being funneled to Wall Street and the hundreds of billions to the military industrial complex before I start trying to put big bird out of work.
> Also, while I don’t believe in publicly funding much any corporations
How about the NPRA? National Public Rifle Association.
Be still my beating heart.
And yes, WLP is doing more harm than good.
Bowling alleys pose no threat to your health? Ok great, I’m Mr. Sugarman won’t mind if I lob a 15 pound sphere at his head while playing a friendly game.
NPR really is the best thing going on radio. i find myself feeling guilty for not supporting NPR and PBS. the whole goal of both is just to provide information. yes sometimes its can by a smidge left but not so much so that it turns me off. Hell my kids watch PBS all the time.
Apparently, Josh Sugarman has never slid and fallen on his ass at a bowling alley, or dropped a bowling ball on his foot. Stupid statement. If you’re afraid of getting hurt, don’t get out of bed. Then you’ll just suffer from bedsores and starvation.
Dick Gordon and “The Story” are especially good at devoting as much time as possible to the person being interviewed, not filling it up with the interviewer’s babble and interspersing sound bites here and there.
I can’t comment on NPR as I am not a listener (I couldn’t even tell you where they are on the radio dial). I will say that local media has been much closer to neutral than I ever expected. There may be hope for the press outside of DC and NYC.
Judge all you want, but something tells me that most of these issues could have been solved if schools allowed concealed carry on campus.
I completely agree. Eliminate gun free zones and allow those who have one through the process to obtain a carry permit to exercise it. The beauty of conceal carry compared to an armed guard or two is that you don’t know who they are or how many are carrying. Not only do I think it would be more effective than hiring guards, but it would be drastically cheaper ($0 as opposed to…pick a number ending in ‘illions’).
Why can’t the Army do this shit on base somewhere? Or post or whatever they call their taxpayer-funded towns.
If they did it on-base, the training wouldn’t be…realistic enough. Frankly, I’d be more at peace with their urban domestic-theater training if they conducted it over Telegraph Hill, mid-town Manhattan, or lake-front Chicago. Then I’d know they were preparing to take down the actual operation centers of the “All their freedoms and bank fees are belong to us” crowd.
Rabbi,
I would drive home the ridiculous point that the .233 / 5.56 is “too powerful” a bit more. Virtually every caliber used for deer hunting has more energy, penetration, and momentum than the 5.56. Examples: .30-30 (approx 50% more power), .308 / .30-06 (more than twice the power), etc. Joe Biden’s .270 Winchester has more than twice the power of the 5.56, as does his 12 gauge shotgun suggestion. Many hunting handguns have more power than the 5.56 including the .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, .460 Smith, and .500 Smith.
Your one stop shop for all your gay porn needs. Filthy disgusting pornography is always availiable, but god forbid a 10 round mag.
What, A butter knife isn’t good enough anymore? Remember, never walk in the direction of the shooter & always try to run or hide, yeah, thats much better than trying a WWF clothsline on the perp. Randy
imagine the mayhem if everybody ran around with scissors…who is the bad guy…with all of those scissors it is hard to tell who is who…just sayin’
I’m fiscally conservative and pro-Constitution, yet I listen to NPR (National Pink Radio) regularly when driving. They are the only game in town for talk radio with a brain, no more biased than the networks but better than them at research. I was elated to hear them give Myrick a fair hearing. Now that Rahm’s Dominion has recaptured the gun-crime reports, a skeptical nation asks Rahm (and the President) “What the hell do you know about controlling crime or understanding the purpose of the 2nd Amendment?”
best option a good guy with a gun
what happens when the cops are the active shooters? just sayin.
When I had a job that put me in the car for most of afternoon rush hour, All Things Considered was what I had on 90% of the time. I find myself listening to stories that I’d never read on the internet, and most of the time they turn out to be pretty interesting.
Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! is a bunch of fun when you’re on a road trip.
And Car Talk is… well, I can’t explain it. You have to experience it.
Firing blanks in the middle of a city is utterly ridiculous and irresponsible. People didn’t know what was going and called 911. Someone had to respond to that. In the meantime a real 911 call could’ve come in.
I’m hoping the sequel instructs people how to break the glass over the Office AR and begin applying its contents to the Active Shooter, uh, liberally.
Just had some trigger work done on my 686 by Apex Tactical. Like buttah…
Did anyone else notice how the Fort Hood shooter was lumped in
with the two nutcases from Virginia Tech and Arizona? All active
shooters but only one a bona fide terrorist tied to islamic
fundamentalism. I’m curious to know whether Fort Hood was
picked simply as an example or to further downplay threats
from islamic extremism?
As far as the commercial itself is concerned, I’m torn. Yes DHS
doing PSA announcements is odd, but it’s hard enough to get
people to take training (even for there own safety) seriously.
Even now, outside of teachers who are current/former LEOs,
fire, EMS, military, how many will actively seek out OPSEC
and situational awareness training? Is the PSA going to help?
Maybe not, but how much will it really hurt?
Here’s a thought, instead of spending money on PSAs that may
or may not help, mandate that all teachers must take some
form of security training regarding active shooters and
situational awareness to maintain their teaching certificates.
Before everyone starts throwing epithets at me find someone
who works in law enforcement, or fire/ems and ask them how
hard it is to get these professionals to take subjects like
terrorism seriously, especially in more rural areas. The thought
of “it’ll never happen here” is extremely pervasive and often
overrides common sense. A few states, such as Maine, have
to resort to withholding funds from police and fire to force them
to take an awareness level class about HazMat/WMDs, terrorism,
OPSEC etc… If it’s this hard to get professionals whose responses
include the mentioned topics, to take relevant training; how
are you going to get your average teacher to do the same?
Sorry guys, I listen to NPR also, I even enjoy it sometimes, and none of you have convinced me that it is non-biased. Where to start…well to hear National Palestinian Radio’s narrative, everything that big bad Israel does is just to persecute Arabs. I trust Al-Jazeera more than NR when it comes to Middle East news–and that’s not hyperbole; AJ actually has run stories critical of Hamas, for the effects its policies have on Palestinian Arabs.
Guns…maybe they’re turning over a new leaf now, but in the past, whenever they have tried to give the veneer of even-handedness, it always is a poised gun-hater up against an inarticulate gun-rights advocate. Weird.
And then there are Garrison Keillor, Diiiiaaannnnee Reeehhhhmmmm and the stories she chooses, Car Talk, and stories about how hip-hop is giving the youth of Mongolia a voice….tune in to Not Particularly Relevant.
Welcome friend!!
Tell mark to just find a movie house with a bigger sign, Yeah, that should do it. His drivel reminds me of the high power logic of jesse jerkson, mr I’m tired of burying black criminals. Well, I’m tired of black crime & guess what? so are the decent hard working blacks around here, Randy
It seems that your first paragraph, Guns Save Lives, is inconsistent with, The same holds true for Firearms. One is 2.5 million and the other is 1.5 – 2 million.
Here is the latest liberal screed on gun control. You might want to be prepared to counter these arguments. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/pro-gun-myths-fact-check
They’re not assault rifles, they’re patrol rifles!!
I’ve been a listener to NPR my whole life. Their bias is towards an educated audience, and they tend to be the journalistic opposition to whoever is in power at the moment. Remember that NPR is a parent organization. There are many programs produced under that umbrella. Some have particular leanings, while others are news and analysis. Of their commentators, David Brooks is a calm conservative. Stephen Hunter was interviewed on Talk of the Nation a while ago. People on the right get their say during most political segments.
Journalism is an essential element of a democracy, and NPR fills that role better than any other organization I know. It’s not perfect, but perfection is a rare quality, and NPR does good work.
Yeah, how dare those kids have the temerity to show up in public. And they were at the school on the day of the massacre? How convenient.
Crazy gun nut shoots man just for breaking into her house. The only thing wrong with this is I wouldn’t have aimed for the stomach…. http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/31/crazy-gun-nut-shoots-man-just-for-breaking-into-her-house/
Buy new issue funky firearms. Put is safe. Dont fire. Sell for mucho dinero when your kids need to go to college. Even the worst guns get collectable at some point.
Ahem.
At the risk of seeming petulant, the first question in regard to any legislative action on the part of persons in government is specific to legal authority and legitimate ‘powers’.
Least it be obfuscated entirely in the midst of this ongoing ‘Great Debate‘:
( that is, ‘Rights’ of the Citizens vs. powers of government )
‘Rights’ of the Citizens are recognized as natural, inherent and inalienable.
The Citizens grant to those in their local, county, and State government only certain. limited powers, and the Citizens of their respective State elect people as representatives to the Federal government.
All States have Constitutions, which establish a framework for the operation of government.
Most all States have within their State Constitutions — read:-Contracts / Compacts between the governed and persons in government — provisions which specifically declare and enumerate certain ‘Rights’.
Several purposes are served by these declarations and enumerations of ’Rights’. Among the purposes served are, as a written reminder to those in government of what specific ’Rights’ they are duty-bound to ’Secure’, and as limitations on powers afforded to those in government. Declared and enumerated ‘Rights’ are not to be in any way violated by persons within or acting on behalf of government itself.
[ Pertinent point of note: intentionally violating a person or person’s ‘Rights’ is the very basis of an actual criminal act. ]
Continuing on;-
The Constitution of the United States is a framework for the operation of the Federal government. Those in the Federal government are granted only few and limited powers, and within the Constitution of the United States are also declarations and enumerations of specific ’Rights’ of the Citizens.
( sound familiar? ) Among the purposes served are as a written reminder to those in the Federal government of what specific ’Rights’ they are duty-bound to ’Secure’, and as specific limitations on powers afforded to those in government. Said specified ‘Rights’ are not to be violated by persons within or acting on behalf of government itself.
[ Intentionally violating a person or person’s ‘Rights’ is an actual criminal act. Attempting to alter, abridge or abolish altogether certain ’Rights’ is not only a criminal act, but Immoral and last but certainly not least, Constitutionally prohibited under law. ]
Now.
Imagine as you may, being positioned as a representative from your respective State to the Federal Congress, aware that your primary obligation and duty is to ‘Secure Rights‘ of the Citizens of your State and committed to doing so.
On the one hand, a certain person in the Executive Branch is actively engaged in attempting to issue Executive Edicts in obvious violation of laws restricting powers afforded to him, ( and naturally expecting to get away with it ) and on the other, a representative of a State — a Senator no less– has proposed legislation specified…“To regulate assault weapons, to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited, and for other purposes.”
Oh my.
Suggested solution?
For representatives who have a provision within their State Constitution declaring and enumerating it to be a ’Right’ of the Citizens of their State to keep and bear arms — which most do — all that’s necessary is to express the facts that you’re bound by oath to ‘Secure Rights’ of the Citizens of your State to keep and bear arms; that no such authority exists as would be required for you to have the granted powers necessary to legally enact the proposed legislation: and
that you are, Morally obligated and under written law, prohibited from any action which would violate the ’Rights’ of the Citizens you represent.
Steroids, gangstatheletes, obese castrated men gorging Doritos, and now child abuse. The NFL just gets more grotesque every year.
When the circus becomes this pathetic, it’s a sure sign the empire is collapsing.
Of note for Mr. Glaze- you and/or your children are much more likely to die on the way to or from the movies, church, or school due to an auto accident than you are to be involved in a mass shooting of any sort.
The thing people are forgetting, is that right before the 1993 ban was passed, the polls said the same thing…. Speaking of polls, what has the New York governors done since he signed the “safe act”?
The thing about polls is they do NOT measure intensity. And we have that by the truck load
I hope Comcast cleans msnbc out and realizes some of the lunatics need to go.
This is in the category of “100 round magazine” and .50AE.
Congrats, Nick