CBS Guest: 'Insanity of the Lack of Gun Control' Leads to Police Deaths
Former New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton brought his pro-gun control agenda into a segment about the FBI's latest crime statistics on Tuesday's Early Show on CBS, blaming the "the insanity of the lack of gun control laws in this country" for an increase in police deaths during 2011.
Anchor Erica Hill introduced Bratton as the "chairman of Kroll, a worldwide investigative company. He's also the former chief of police in Los Angeles, New York City, and Boston." During most of the segment, Hill and co-anchor Chris Wragge asked their guest for his take about the overall decrease in violent crime, according to the FBI statistics.
Near the end of the interview, Wragge asked Bratton about one key statistic that went up instead of going down: the number of police fatalities: "Sadly, though, there is one element of these statistics where the news is not all good, and that's police fatalities right now....up 16% from the same time last year....'why are these numbers rising here with police fatalities?" The former NYC police commissioner included his "insanity" phrase in his answer.
Back in July 2011, Bratton and actor Richard Belzer appeared in an ad together where the two called on Congress to pass a ban on large capacity ammunition magazines on guns. During the ad, he claimed that such magazines "made the massacre in Tucson possible. Six people were killed, thirteen others were gravely injured, including Congressman Gabby Giffords."
The transcript of the relevant portion of the interview from Tuesday's Early Show, starting at 13 minutes into the 7 am Eastern hour:
CHRIS WRAGGE: Sadly, though, there is one element of these statistics where the news is not all good, and that's police fatalities right now-
BILL BRATTON, CHAIRMAN, KROLL: That's right-
WRAGGE: Up 16% from the same time last year. Here in the New York area, everyone, basically, mourning the loss of one of New York's finest, Peter Figoski, who was killed last week. And yesterday, you see 15,000 police officers all show to mourn the loss of this officer. What- why are these numbers rising here with police fatalities?
[CBS News Graphic: "Police Fatalities So Far: Preliminary Numbers: Total Fatalities: 2011, 171; 2010, 147; Up 16%; Source: National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund"]
BRATTON: You're always going to have- no matter how good we are at controlling crime spikes- and what you're seeing right now is an unfortunate aberration, in the sense that this year, it is up, and assaults on police, particularly those involving guns- the insanity of the lack of gun control laws in this country. But the good news is that overall, the trending over time has been down. I was around in the days where we had 130, 140 police officers killed. Each police officer death is a tragedy in and of itself- yesterday, one of New York's finest of the finest. But I think that this year is an aberration that, hopefully, will, in fact, not repeat itself next year.
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Comments
I don't know where Wragge is getting his numbers.
Submitted by UpNorth on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 7:42pm.
The Officer Down Memorial page says that, as of 12-19-2011, there were 155 Line of Duty deaths for Law Enforcement Officers, of those, 58 were auto-related, 61 were a result of gunfire. The 155 is down 1% from last year. Yet Wragge claims that deaths are up 16%?
And, roughly 1/3 of the officers died in auto related incidents. The gun didn't kill a single officer, nor did the patrol car, or someone else's car.
Truth?
Submitted by Huapakechi on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 10:49pm.
You're never supposed to demand the verification when a liberal plucks a number out of his rectum, and besides that he'll no doubt state that those LEO that were killed in auto accidents were gun related simply because the officers were armed at the time of the accident.
May I Suggest Avoiding The Door As He Exits The Country
Submitted by Avitar on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 7:44pm.
As New York City police commissioner he is unhappy that anyone but the police have guns. Might I suggest that with Gun control everybody else would be unhappy that the police have guns. I have been vaguly threatened by a cop resting his hand on his gun after he came to my door for car information.
Last time i checked, NYC has severe gun control laws.
Submitted by Newsbubba on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 8:04pm.
The only people with guns in NYC are the police, criminals, and the security people guarding liberals like Rosie O'Donnell, Michael Moore, and Barack Hussein Obama.
If the entire country were to have NYC gun laws, the same groups of people would have the guns.
Seems the only group not allowed to own guns in NYC, and the rest of the country if they pass the stupid laws, are law abiding citizens who very seldom shoot cops or anyone else unless they are attacked.
Any patrol officer approaching a stopped vehicle---
Submitted by matthewdean on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 11:05pm.
is unsure, initially, of what the interior contains, regardless of what information is being sought.
Bad guy? Criminal element? Psycho? Weapon(s) in the hand of one or more of the occupants?
The officer having his or her hand on the butt of the weapon, holster unsnapped, can, IF drawing his weapon becomes necessary, mean the difference between shooting or being shot; living or dying.
If you resent being "vaguely" threatened, then avoiding any actions behind the wheel that could result in being pulled over in the first place might well eliminate altogether the potential for experiencing that uncomfortable feeling.
MD
I Wonder....
Submitted by Samaritan01 on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 7:51pm.
I wonder what neighborhood this guy was raised in, I was raised in Los Angeles (another locale that favors tight gun control) and anyone could buy an illegal firearm quickly and simply within about 15 minutes. These strange, strange people are completely blind to the facts; gun control merely creates criminals and makes the streets safe for no one!
Wragge is a newsreader who
Submitted by wdvander on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 8:17pm.
Wragge is a newsreader who should never venture far from the teleprompter. In the television news business, only meterologists have to present their information without the assistance of the Obama memorial teleprompter. Everyone else, including the sports guy, reads what someone else writes.
Wragge's first big market job was as a sports guy at Houston's NBC affiliate. He has now ascended well beyond his level of mediocrity being on a national morning "news" show. He needs to stay within sight of his teleprompter and any television producer who lets him "swing it" live should be locked in a closet with Richard Simmons.
Bratton is a hack!!
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 8:27pm.
The rank and file LAPD could not stand this charlatan, he is in it for HIMSELF and HIMSELF only. He was a lousy chief and a lousy administrator. It is easy to claim crime is down, when you dont report it!
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
BEGRUNT ---
Submitted by matthewdean on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 11:22pm.
Did Bratton follow Willie Williams (out of Philly), the Affirmative Action choice to be Police Chief in L.A.; or did he follow the other African-American who subsequently became an L.A. City council member?
He was such a zero I can't even remember his name; but after the tenure of Williams and the nameless one, I'll bet even Bratton looked good initially.
Amazing how politics and/or political correctness can elevate such mediocrities in Civil Service to the higher echelons, eh?
MD
MD.......Bratton followed.....
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 5:06pm.
"Bitter" Bernie Parks......another LAPD chief that was loathed. When Bratton first arrived, I had high expectations as did most of the rank and file, that he would be a "Cops" chief. He was everything but. He was a self centered, political hack, who kowtowed to the Midget Mayor, and caved on everything from illegal alien criminals, to special perks for the city council. He and his pal, Deputy Chief Berkow, ran the department as a self promotion service/ escort service. The stories I could tell you about Berkow, but that is for another time.
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
Meanwhile...
Submitted by Unsane on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 8:50pm.
In San Antonio, the SAPD would tell you - even the chief - that alcohol is killing their cops, especially when combined with drivers. Is Mr. Bratton going to suggest a return to Prohibition? There is no drive in Bexar County to make it a dry county.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Wragge or CBS can't even cite straight
Submitted by TheHistorian on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 8:53pm.
The CBS stuff said:
[CBS News Graphic: "Police Fatalities So Far: Preliminary Numbers: Total Fatalities: 2011, 171; 2010, 147; Up 16%; Source: National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund"]
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/matthew-balan/2011/12/20/cbs-guest-insanity...
Brady site says 122 is a 3-year total of gun deaths. So what is really being cited here is total fatalities and the propagandist is being allowed to claim the majority is related to guns. You get the same misinformation when they claim that "juvenile deaths" due to guns are high, and try to claim that is the horror of children being killed due to inadequate gun control. It is actually largely due to gang-bangers killing each other, and is in the 15-19 year range, which I don't call "children". Next we will hear that gun violence in the military caused the soldiers' deaths at Fort Hood in 2009. There is NOTHING that the dishonest left will not stoop to in order to sell their line of need to increase the nanny state.
Anyone ever hear how guns PREVENT deaths, or turn them to protect honest citizens? There was a case in the Toledo Blade recently where a store owner shot and killed a teen-age hoodlum (armed) who tried to rob him. That, in my book, is what guns are for. Remember, when you need help in seconds, the police are minutes away (if they ever show up).
Dennis Prager
dead thugs
Submitted by Huapakechi on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 10:59pm.
*"There was a case in the Toledo Blade recently where a store owner shot and killed a teen-age hoodlum (armed) who tried to rob him."
See! Another "child" dead due to improper gun control.
With the 23,000 laws already on the books, don't these idiots realize that more unenforcable and ineffective laws DON'T WORK!
If Bratton wants to live in a country where only the government
Submitted by Dave. on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 9:01pm.
...has guns, then he can move to North Korea.
-And take comrades Hill and Wragge with him.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
What
Submitted by bobsmom on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 9:22pm.
am I missing? How many of the officers killed, were shot with registered guns? Sorry, I am a gun owner, who has played by all the rules, and I'm the one who should be restricted? I guess I have truly fallen down the rabbit hole.
And what's worse
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 9:32pm.
is that there are already tens of thousands of local, state and federal firearms laws on the books. I think murder and even killing police officers is against the law already too. Are there that many inanimate guns going around wantonly killing people that we don't know about?
Amen
Submitted by bobsmom on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 10:03pm.
brutha (sorry channeling POTUS when addressing a 'hood community)............and I get to say that because I live in Detroit. But yes, I caught my .38 and my Mossberg sneaking out of the house together without parental supervision to commit mayhem............that's how STUPID this is all is. And I'm not a trite "guns don't kill people, people kill people" talking point spouter, I'm a "stupid, evil people with a desire to kill people" advocate. A gun is simply the least personal (insert "gutless") way of making that happen. Only a chickensh*t aggressor takes a gun to take a life. And while I'm totally not advocating taking a life for any reason, a gun is way more impersonal (and safe) for the agressor than a knife, or axe or whatever. But, as a chick into self preservation, with .38 in hand (or Mosserg if I'm really feeling threatened), I think I have done my due diligence to gain the upper hand in the "discussion" if you will, if I'm faced with a gutless wonder that has wandered into my home..............and I say all this while listening to Brenda Lee sing Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.........Holy Moses, what kind of sociopath am I?
Insanity is correct...
Submitted by NVRAT on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 10:17pm.
It`s not due to the insanity of the lack gun control, it`s due to 40-50 years of meddling in the justice system by the liberals and their activists judges, the "Miranda Rights", Evidence by the admissible laws, Democratic Lawyers and the list goes on and on. Gun owners have always wanted criminals behind bars when using a gun in the commission of a crime but, the laws are so in favor with the criminal its disgusting. Lawyers and activist Judges have made a mockery of our system such that a criminal can do as they please and not expect much of a sentence or even time in jail. Some states have mandatory laws but the criminal can plead a bad young life or insanity and get away almost paying nothing for their crime. CBS has always been a Anti-Gun and Anti-Hunting organization, remember the "Gun`s of August" a film that later was proven to be a set up and the circumstances were conjured up to make the hunters look like a bunch of criminals. So it looks like the CBS staff has not changed one bit. I remember when NY created the toughest gun laws in the country and (yea) it looks like they have really controlled guns and crime. The victims here are the law abiding people not the criminal. As usual anti gun people will use any statistic they can and work the numbers to make their point of course, they will also only report half truths and in some cases out right "LIE" to get attention. Again the Liberals have proven that they are the most corrupt and disgusting form of human life, the real criminals of society.
The miracle of gun laws
Submitted by Unsane on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 11:04pm.
Remember when NY's awesome, tough gun laws prevented Colin Ferguson from shooting up a train on Long Island in December 1993?
Yeah, me neither...
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Uns---
Submitted by matthewdean on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 11:27pm.
Them gun laws nailed ol' Bernie Goetz though, didn't they?
MD
Indeed
Submitted by Unsane on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 12:11am.
I remember that incident well even though I was a young lad at the time.
Thursday is the 27th anniversary.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Bumper Sticker phrase
Submitted by jon_torlin on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 10:56am.
Someone should ask these jokers about the bumper sticker saying "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." Don't these idiots realize that someone killing a cop is an outlaw and not your normal average citizen?
Or is it more of the communist ideals of making everyone the enemy?
-Jon
If you torture statistics enough, they will confess to anything
Submitted by Lee.Metford on Thu, 12/22/2011 - 12:41am.
A few years back I was looking over FBI stats on police offices killed in the line of duty. The number of officers killed by other officers was between 25 and 40 percent. If you compare that to the number of police officers killed by licensed gun owners (< 1%), this would make Bratton statistically far more likely kill a fellow officer then would an honest armed citizen. Maybe Bratton should turn in your guns for the good of the community.
Violent criminals confront innocent citizen at a significantly higher rate then they victimize police.If police use firearms to protect themselves from violent criminals because they are effective tools, then innocent citizens would be statistically more likely to need a firearm then the police.
You would think that someone who has been placed in charged of public safety for a number large metropolitan areas would be concerned about the safety of the public. With Bratton, apparently the safety of police officers and his job security comes well ahead of the safety of those who have to live in these communities..