On Monday morning, as CNN's New Day show highlighted video of an FBI agent accidentally shooting someone in a Denver nightclub while dancing flamboyantly, co-host Alisyn Camerota suggested that the video undermine's the NRA's argument that "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," as she discussed the news with co-host John Berman.
By contrast, although Fox and Friends also covered the video on Sunday, the morning FNC program on Friday had also shown some of the other side of the gun issue as it highlighted the case of a teenager in Mississippi who used a rifle to fight off a home invasion by a man who was using a hatchet to break in.
Shortly past 6:30 a.m. Eastern on Monday's New Day, after Camerota showed video of the incident with the FBI agent, and recalled what happened, after some joking around, Berman commented: "But I will say that, you know, other than, I mean, I'm not sure there's a deeper meaning here other than being like ridiculously stupid."
Camerota then took a swipe at pro-gun sentiments as she alluded to the "good guy with a gun" quote originated by NRA vice president Wayne LaPierre, and suggested it may not be a good idea to employ guns to ward off mass shooters. Camerota:
Well, the deeper meaning, I think that we're often looking for what to do about gun violence, and, as you know, there's often the argument, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." But sometimes the good guy with a gun accidentally shoots somebody in a bar. That's -- there's no rule that we can follow.
In March, the same CNN show had hyped a couple of incidents of school teachers behaving irresponsibly with guns to undermine the idea of using more guns to defend schools from attackers.
The story of the FBI agent has notably also been shown on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FNC, with ABC showing full reports on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and again Monday morning. CBS ran full reports on Sunday evening and Monday morning, and NBC ran briefs on Sunday morning and Sunday evening.
Fox and Friends Sunday ran a couple of briefs, but, on Friday morning, FNC had also notably run an example of the undercovered phenomenon of citizens with guns defending themselves from violent criminals who might otherwise have the upper hand. FNC news reader Jillian Mele recalled: "A teenager shoots and kills his uncle who showed up at his home with a hatchet. The 16-year-old grabbing a rifle when Jerry Lee Robinson tried breaking into the house in Mississippi. His mother says her son was home alone and acted in self-defense."
Then came two clips of the boy's mother:
RACHEL CORK, CLIP #1: He tried to hurt my son, and my son -- he did what he was supposed to. He defended himself.
CORK CLIP #2: It could have been the other way around, and it could have been my son I'm picking up and having to bury.
Mele added: "Robinson had a history of threatening the family."
