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Bob Costas (courtesy crooksandliars.com)

“Here’s what I would say to anybody who any time they hear the word guns automatically goes off, like, ‘Oh, they’re going to repeal the Second Amendment. Let’s make a bet, you and me. Let’s say over the next five years we’ll do a Google search. We’ll have an independent party monitor it. You keep track of how many good and constructive things are associated with athletes having a gun, and I’ll keep track of all the tragedies and criminality and folly. And let’s see who comes out ahead or behind as the case may be.” – NBC Sportscaster Bob Costas [via politico.com]

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89 COMMENTS

    • Yes, and the more I see, the more I think many do really believe it. They carefully craft their own little world, then refuse to consider anything that comes from outside of it. It’s amazing and horrifying at the same time. On the other hand, what a wonderful tribute to the general safety of our society that so many people can go through life without ever getting that bubble rudely popped.

  2. As a media person he knows damn well “if it bleeds it leads.” Relying on reported instances as a measure of reality is an uber-fail so either Costa is ignorant of how his own profession operates or he’s hoping everyone else is.

  3. Do libtards ever listen to themselves when they speak? Since the majority of the athletes he’s referring to are African American what he’s caught up in is the reformation spirit that sought to keep guns away from freed slaves. I’m sure he fails to appreciate the racist undertones of his position but anyone not suffering from terminal liberal logic should.

    • Exactly. What is the face of pro football? African American. The large scary black man with a gun scares the bejeezus out of the Costas of the world.

      Racism in it’s modern guise. Code words and faux concern for the “victims” those poor “athletes” that aren’t competent enough to manage their own affairs without the benevolent “Costas” to guide them.

    • Let’s see, what are the roots of gun control? Post- Civil War laws in the southern states that were intended to keep guns out of the hands of the newly-freed blacks. What political party was pretty much running the South in the 1870s- 1960s? Democrats.

      What political party now opposes gun ownership, especially in the big liberal cities with large minority populations? Democrats.

      So tell me again why conservatives – who support widespread gun ownership and Constitutional carry for EVERYONE – are called “racists” by the Democrat media? Because they can get away with it, and they have somehow convinced their minority voters that Massa Elite Liberal knows best for the serfs.

  4. Good thing he isn’t a scientist. The fact that he ernestly thinks that would be an informative experiment explains why he has such twisted views in the first place.

  5. Over the next five years, we will monitor the remarks about the Second Amendment by sportscasters and any others in the media, and see how many positively portray guns and gun ownership and how many speak negatively of guns or gun ownership.

  8. Let’s make a bet Bobbie. Let’s see how NBC’s ratings for the olympics were when you were out. Wanna bet your career and marketability are dead?

  10. Okay Bob, you keep track of how many good and constructive things are associated with athletes having a sports car or a luxury car and I’ll keep track of all the tragedies and criminality and folly. Or maybe Bob you could keep track of all the good and constructive things associated with athletes having alcohol and I’ll keep track of the DUIs and bar fights. Or maybe Bob you could keep track of all the good and constructive things reported in the media about athletes having wives and girlfriends and I’ll keep track of all the media reported abuse and cheating. At the end of the day the results will be clear, there will be more negative stories than positive stories about athletes having cars, alcohol and significant others. So there is only one logical solution. Ban athletes from having automobiles, alcohol or significant others. It’s for their own good!

  13. Total Bullshit! Why would we base our rights on the actions of a very small part of society that are degenerate moron jocks?

    And yes I do like sports, but these guys are nothing more than gladiators.

    • ^^This. Since when is a tiny group of overpaid, over-indulged, narcissistic, pseudo-tribal warriors (that tribal is anthropological, NOT racial) the representative sample of American society?

  14. He also said “put the 2nd Amendment aside” (or something to that effect).

    No, Bob. We will NOT put the 2nd Amendment aside, so there’s no point in even suggesting it.

    Face it – MANY of the professional athletes you cover are thugs, plain and simple. Of all of the athletes that actually own guns, a minute fraction of a fraction of them do something stupid or illegal with it. The same could be said of any profession – including sportscasters.

  16. I think we should aggregate some POSITIVE examples of athletes with guns for Mr. Costas.

    The South Georgia chapter of Kidz Outdoors hosts an annual even called “Hog Hunts for Hope” where college football players and local guides take sick children out hunting. I will paste a link below. Disclaimer: although I am NOT affiliated with Kidz Outdoors, this event is chaired by my good friend Christian Taylor.

    https://www.facebook.com/southgeorgiakidzoutdoors

    I urge TTAG readers to post as much information about events like this to get information about positive shooting events like this out there. God knows the media isn’t going to do it for us.

    • Here’s 9,307 solid examples of guns doing good: For the past 9,307 nights, I have kept a Remington 870 in my bedroom. On each of those nights, my home was free from invasion, robbery, rape, coercion, murder, and death.

  17. The mere presence of a good guy with a firearm deters countless violent incidents every day. Countless. Mr. Costas loses his bet out the gate.

  18. That’s a nice false dichotomy. That’s the kind of Hegelian dialectic you use on children, Bob. Even though it has nothing to do with the second amendment, I have one word for you: hunting! I have seen numerous professional athletes on the Sportsman or Outdoors channel showing off their hunting properties and tools. There is currently a kickstarter campaign going to create an outdoors show strictly for NHL players that hunt.

    In WI, we sell almost 700k individual deer hunting licenses per year. In 2013, there were only 8 accidents – http://www.piercecountyherald.com/content/wisconsin-news-round-eight-accidents-total-2013-gun-deer-season. 8 out of 700k is what we call in science “statistically insignificant.” The NRA also has a monthly column in its magazines outlining positive DGUs. There are 300 million firearms in the U.S., and only about 6,000 murders with firearms, most of which are committed by felons on felons in the drug business. Most people are good people, and they don’t use these tools in a dangerous manner. Get off your high horse, Bob.

  19. So ban professional athletes, problem solved. They’d be shooting each other in the ghettos like they always have and we’d never have to hear about it because they aren’t famous.

    Or better yet, have their contracts say they cannot own a gun. If someone pays you millions to toss a ball around, it’s not unreasonable for them to control every aspect of your life.

  20. Thanks Bob. Now what do you have say about the athlete? You know, the animate object that often partakes in a lifestyle that none of us will know about. You made no mention of them; how they control their money, their relationships, their free time and yes, their firearm(s). They are no different than any of us when it comes to having knowledge, respect and (hopefully) training about how to handle weapons. I would imagine that they would still see it as a means of literal survival, hearkening back to their perhaps meager and poverty-stricken upbringing. Education is key, not confiscation.

  21. In addition to what others have said above, let’s look at:

    Jason Turner (USA), bronze medal air pistol
    Walton Eller (USA), gold medal double trap
    Matthew Emmons (USA), silver medal rifle prone
    Matthew Emmons (USA), bronze medal rifle three position
    Vincent Hancock (USA), gold medal skeet (in back-to-back olympics)
    Jamie Lynn Gray (USA), gold medal rifle three position
    Kim Rhode (USA), gold medal skeet

    • Yes! They are wonderful and should all be more famous.

      Plus our bi-athletes in the recent Olympics that Costas reported on. Perhaps his nasty eye infection kept him from seeing the rifles they were using.

      • I did not watch the entire Olympics, since generally people doing unnecessarily hazardous things for fun does not appeal to me, and I do not recall precisely when Little Bobby was absent, but did he actually appear during any of the times that the biathlon was being covered, or was that when his “convenient” eye infection occurred?

      • Turned on the tv today and the ISSF trap shooting competition from Acapulco was on. I called my wife into the room and said “Hey look! Real guns on TV!”

    • We all know when Costas says “athletes”, he’s only talking about football and basketball players.

  23. So he’s only relying on media reports of athletes making news with a gun to form his opinion of the Second Amendment??? Sure… because every time an athlete goes to the range, is safe and has a good time, it makes the news – and every time an athlete doesn’t shoot himself in the leg at a night club or pistol whip the mother of his children, it makes the news. That’s a profound bit of logic Bob.

    • You say what I was thinking–there can be no fair bet simply because of the bias of the national media against guns. If you want to find stories about DGUs, you will find them only in the local news; the national media will not report it. But if it is an old cop (with a “CCW”) in a movie theater shooting another patron, or a white guy shooting a black kid, it will be the headline in the papers and the lead story on the nightly news. The national media is balls to the walls fighting to ban guns–and Costas is one of the players in that drama. And of course he knows it; he knows he is not reporting, but rather editorializing and toeing the party line.

  24. Here’s the thing BOB, the issue you describe is not the fault of the gun, it’s the fault of the criminal in possession of the gun. As a society, we’ve developed and permitted a culture of excuses for professional athletes. They are paid an extraordinary amount relative to the contribution they make to society. They flaunt the law and adult responsibility at nearly every turn and as a society, we say – hey, it’s ok because you can run fast or throw a ball far or are big and strong. Is it any wonder that these same athletes push the boundaries? We let them. We encourage them to go further and further out on that limb. We glamorize the life and we minimize the consequences for stepping over the line.

    This, BOB, is the problem. You say the gun is the problem, I say YOU are the problem.

  25. Bob, Bob, Bob you forgot to load your comment with “professional” in front of the athletes. You know the guys who received “special” tutoring and assistance through high school and college so they could maintain their eligibility. You have foolishly left the liberal barn door open for 4H shooting clubs, the excellent Miss (Mrs.?) Weiss, not to mention all the shooting sports (if NASCAR is a sport, so is CAS). You sir are a (not pronounced due-mahs).

  26. Given Bob’s fear of guns and armed people in general, I suppose we could say that every day an athlete does not shoot someone is a positive event. So with 1826 days in five years multiplied by the number of athletes who own firearms, I think I’ll accept his wager.

  29. Sooooo did I just hear him say that athletes are too stupid to own a firearm as opposed to the civilians who’s positive to negative uses of firearms are somewhere in the 80:1 ratio?

    He’s also worded his response specifically to rig the outcome. Since there are almost never REPORTS of athletes using firearms for good, even though they do, he can rig the outcome himself.

    • Positive to negative ratio is easily in excess of 400:1, using just 2012 statistics:

      From the FBI: “There were an estimated 386.9 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012, a rate that remained virtually unchanged when compared to the 2011 estimated rate. Aggravated assaults accounted for 62.6 percent of violent crimes reported to law enforcement in 2012. Robbery offenses accounted for 29.2 percent of violent crime offenses; rape accounted for 6.9 percent; and murder accounted for 1.2 percent. Information collected regarding types of weapons used in violent crime showed that firearms were used in 69.3 percent of the nation’s murders, 41.0 percent of robberies, and 21.8 percent of aggravated assaults.” (2013 numbers are not significantly different)

      (because they do not have firearm use figures for forcible rape I will leave it out, it is a small percent anyway)

      386.9 violent crimes per 100,000

      Aggravated assaults 62.6% of 386.9 = 242.2
      Robbery 29.2% of 386.9 = 113.0
      Murder 1.2% of 386.9 = 4.6

      Firearms used in:
      Aggravated assaults 21.8% of 242.2 = 52.8
      Robbery 41.0% of 113.0 = 46.3
      Murder 69.3% of 4.6 = 3.2

      Add those three, 52.8 + 46.3 + 3.2 = 102.3. 26.4% of violent crime. 102.3 per 100,000 = .1023%

      That’s right, the RATE of violent crime in which a firearm is used in this country is one tenth of one percent.

      The RATE of firearms ownership in this country is reportedly 34%-43% (depending on which survey you trust).

      That means that there is anywhere from 332 to 420 TIMES as many law-abiding guns as guns used in crime.

      That is assuming a unique gun was used in each and every crime AND that the surveys are not under reporting firearms ownership.

    • For the most part, if you scratch a sportswriter/sportscaster, you’ll find a liberal goo-goo pundit wannabe. Recall Mike Lupica’s rant about “assault rifles” on the day that guy shot up the Navy yard with a pump shotgun?

  31. Aren’t there people out there that shoot for sport? Isn’t there an Olympic competition based on that? How deep can you fit that foot in your mouth?

  32. Thank God for Pinkeye.

    I see Heinz Ward is gone from the halftime show. NBC must have seen the ratings drop when he and Bob were talking, and figured, boy, they don’t like Heinz.

  33. I admit that I was a bit confused by the quote. So I went to the story. And I’m still confused. Is he suggesting that there should be a special exception for athletes, and that they alone (along with felons, domestic abusers and crazy people) shouldn’t be able to own guns? Regardless of his position on guns generally, such a statement seems preposterous.

  34. The wager is already decided in Bob’s favor by 2 things.

    First, the professional sports leagues are disportionately composed of lowlifes(National FELONS League anyone?). The athletes are going to be involved in criminal activity at a much higher rate than the general population, including the criminal misuse of firearms.

    Second, Bob’s fellow change agents(journalists, as they are more commonly know) spike stories of defensive gun use and other pro-social uses of firearms. Journalists rarely report on defensive uses of firearms, but they sure like to report crimes committed with the use of firearms.

    This is one wager that is a losing one.

  36. Here’s an idea, let’s see how many good and constructive things that are associated with elitist Manhattanite sports news readers happen over the next five years, and I’ll keep track of all the moronic things they say on camera.

    I’m going to need a bigger hard drive.

  37. What an idiot!! Let’s do the same thing with expensive sports cars. Track the good things in the press that happened with athletes and Maserati’s or Ferrari’s, etc, versus the number of times they are associated with misbehavior.

    Any car, any person, lets even track that.

    Nobody talks about the endless times people are saved by ambulances getting them to the hospital, or any number of positive uses of vehicles. Extend it to airliners. We only hear about the ones that disappear or crash. Duh.

    Costas is an idiot. Someone byt him some duct tape and show him how to use it.

  38. He doesnt have a very high opinion of the Athletes he reports on…He might find it hard getting an interview from people he clearly has no respect for.

  39. Hes right, these ex ghetto athletes probably should not be armed. Just because they are turned into millionaires by the sports entertainment complex doesnt mean they lose their hood rat ways. Arent most of them felons anyway?

  40. I am glad he is openly admitting the media has a blatant agenda and bias to only cover things which support their agenda via propaganda.

  41. I dunno, maybe someone should take him up on that. He didn’t say “pro athletes’, he didn’t say “football players’, he said “athletes”. I’m guessing there are dozens of biathlon contestants, modern pentathlon contestants, Olympic target-shooting contestants, skeet shooters, etc, etc for every overpaid barbarian that goes retard with a gun. Every time one of them competes, much less wins a medal or a ribbon, it is a good and constructive thing. I think he would lose at his own rigged game with some good research out there.

  42. Racism at its best by the fact he is limiting it to sports. I think we could take him up on his offe though. Let’s just look at the top 20% of high paid players. Figure in how many guns they have, the guns the guard service that they hired have. Take that number times 365 days a year for the cost of protection and he wants to compare that to the handful of cases in a year. We win. Now let’s make it real interesting and say if he loses then he has to give up his 1st amendment.

    St patty day is over time for the leprechauns to go away.

  43. Talk about living in a media bubble. OK, BOB. It never happens unless the media reports it, right? Like every DGU gets the same air time by the anti-Gun establishment media that a criminal act does? Puh-lease. Total fail. Once again. Always. If you’re going to stay in your bubble, then STFU. Or come out of your bubble and take a look at the real world. But honestly, no one wants to hear your opinion on 2A anyway, so just stick to sports (which actually you suck at too). What an elitist media snob.

  44. I guess Bill O’Reilly talking about black responsibility is racist but this dweeb is not? I don’t ASSume all BLACK male athletes are thugs. I can’t believe there isn’t more outrage from black folks over this Jim Crow s##t. Whatever…from an evil old white man married to a beautiful black woman.

  45. Bob Costas is NOT relevant in any sense of the word, the Olympics went off without a hitch despite his departure, perhaps it’s time for Costas to retire…

  46. Hey Bob, how about we do this: You shut your pie hole regarding things you know nothing about and just announce the games, and I will continue legally owning my firearms without having to listen to your idiotic drivel. Then we’ll both be happy, and you’ll be able to sound halfway intelligent.

  47. If we’re all being judged by the standards set by professional athletes, it’s no wonder our society is circling the drain…

    You couldn’t set the bar lower without digging a trench.

  48. Sports and guns question….

    I am sure there are other members of the AI and POTG that have kept up with this more than I have but did anyone else question the death of Steve McNair for several reasons? First, He was shot 4 times (twice in the head and twice in the chest). Does not that seem excessive for a murder/suicide? Second, Sahel Kazemi was shot in the right side of the head but there was powder residue on her left hand. How do you shoot yourself in the right side of the head with your left hand? It might just be me but I do not buy the murder/suicide theory.

    • The least believable aspect of the official account of McNair’s death is that we’re supposed to believe that a Bryco/Jennings pistol fired successfully five times in a row…

  49. You are paid to entertain, Bob. Your thinly disguised contempt for your audience and the people you comment on is disgusting. Eventually this will catch up with you and you will be out on your ass like Piers Morgan.

  50. Costas is the smug mouthpiece of the “elite” media; to anyone with two brain cells his opinions carry as much weight as the opinions of your coffee table.

  52. Costas is a pretentious and sanctimonious tool He’s specifically talking about pro athletes, people who have been treated differently and worshiped their entire lives because of the money they can bring others. Many of them, the ones we hear about doing stupid things with guns, lack the self-control and self-awareness required to make smart decisions on their own. That’s why they have agents, managers and handlers. He does not ONCE mention the majority of gun owning athletes who never do anything stupid. Forget the fact by mentioning athletes he leaves out the rest of the population. In addition, he’s supposedly a journalist, but he’s going to use the number of Google mentions as a barometer of gun violence?

    No, Mr. Costas, you are irresponsible and completely wrong with your commentary.

  54. I don’t get it – Is he arguing to add athletes to the list of prohibited persons, along with felons, misdemeanor domestic violence offenders, the dishonorably discharged and those with mental illness? I know that athletes commit a disproportional number of crimes, but that seems a rather harsh punishment to exact on an entire group of people.

  57. What’s funny is you could bring up thousands of IPSC, 2-gun and 3-gun shooters and they’d probably just say “those aren’t real athletes, they don’t count.”

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