MSNBC host Contessa Brewer [file photo] has taken some deserved heat here, as when NewsBuster Scott Whitlock caught her here, seemingly rooting for the entire Democratic presidential field.
But for at least one brief shining moment this afternoon, Brewer gave the pro-Second Amendment side of the VA Tech argument fair treatment. The fair Contessa's guests were University of Missouri law prof Kris Kobach, a former senior aide to former AG John Ashcroft, and Dennis Henigan of the Brady gun-control group.
Brewer began by expressing skepticism as to how additional gun control laws could have helped: "Dennis, let me put you on the spot here. What possibly have been done to keep Cho from buying a gun? We now know he didn't have a criminal record."
Henigan switched the subject to the firepower of the guns Cho had, complaining about the expiration of laws limiting the number of rounds in a magazine.
Kobach pointed the finger at VA Tech's complete ban on all firearms on campus, observing that "the only thing that stops a determined, cold-blooded killer is someone else with a gun."
When Henigan asserted that "parents of the students at Virginia Tech would be appalled that people are suggesting more guns on that campus," Brewer interrupted:
Brewer: There's a student at Virginia Tech who wrote an op-ed piece in the Roanoke Times last summer criticizing the fact that the campus was a gun-free place. People who know how to shoot guns say if any one of those people in those classrooms had been packing heat, Cho wouldn't have gotten as far as he did."
By the enthusiasm with which she expressed the argument, one sensed that Brewer herself was not hostile to its logic and indeed might have been embracing it
Henigan responded with an airy argument: "You can't simply talk about this shooting and what might have happened, that kind of speculation. You have to evaluate what would be the 'net social cost' of a policy allowing people to carry weapons." He predictably concluded that "it's absurd to think that the net social cost would be good."
Contessa ended with an observation underlying the futility of gun control laws: "The bottom line is that obviously, the fact was that Cho broke a whole slew of laws, not just by bringing a gun on campus, but by opening fire and murdering 32 other people." Kobach nodded his head in agreement as Henigan sputtered.
UPDATE - Contessa vs. the I-Man: as NB Managing Editor Ken Shepherd has brought to my attention, before acceding to her host spot, Brewer toiled as a newsreader on the Imus show, at one point engaging in a major-league slanging match with him, as documented here by Outside the Beltway.
Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
"You have to evaluate wh
April 17, 2007 - 21:38 ET by MikeB"You have to evaluate what would be the 'net social cost' of a policy allowing people to carry weapons." Okay, let's evaluate exactly that policy. When the state of Florida passed their "shall issue" concealed carry permit law, the immediate result was a significant reduction in violent crime. The "net social cost" was very positive. There were fewer armed robberies, fewer rapes, fewer muggings, fewer murders, and the crime rate has stayed lower.
On a similar note, when the city of Kennesaw, Georgia passed their ordinance that every homeowner in the city, who was not legally prevented from owning a firearm, was required to own a firearm, the crime rate in Kennesaw, Georgia took a nose dive. I posit that the "net social cost" of this ordinance is very positive.
From these two examples alone, I must conclude that Dennis Henigan hasn't the faintes clue as to what he is talking about.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Mark,I cannot believe I know
April 18, 2007 - 00:31 ET by bigtimerMark,
I cannot believe I know about the despicable things Imus said about Brewer, he used to have her sit at the desk between him and Charles and intentionally try to make her look stupid, you could tell she was nervous at first, but after time you could tell she was getting mad, I heard when Imus said that about her rear and other things over time, she would never get anywhere in other words...she put up with a lot...more than I would of.
Speaking of those pictures they had of Imus, they could of threw in one or two of him sticking gum on the end of his nose, or pulling it out and stretching it as far as he could like a five year old that you have to tell a child to quit doing that or you are going to make a mess, and then get into big trouble if they keep it up.
Now on to the great interview and questions she said on todays interview concerning the laws and VT...it was great, I did happen to catch that too....and I was surprised coming from msnbc
Brewer: There's a student at Virginia Tech who wrote an op-ed piece in the Roanoke Times last summer criticizing the fact that the campus was a gun-free place. People who know how to shoot guns say if any one of those people in those classrooms had been packing heat, Cho wouldn't have gotten as far as he did."