On Friday morning, the CBS This Morning crew were oblivious to recent stories about good guys with guns defending themselves from mass shooters in public places as they not only ran a story about an effort to force Kroger into becoming a gun-free zone, but the hosts also voiced agreement with sentiment from the story that "you don't need a gun to buy groceries."
As the report focused on the daughter of a man killed by a gunman at a Louisville Kroger last October, it was totally ignored that an armed citizen in the parking lot forced him into a firefight after he killed his second victim, and likely made a difference in stopping him from harming others.
The same report ran again on the same day's CBS Evening News which, ironically, last October was one of several shows that did inform viewers of the good guy with a gun angle, although it was not mentioned this time.
At 7:39 a.m. Eastern, co-host Gayle King recalled the Kroger shooting, and, as if it might be Kroger's fault for not banning guns from the store, added: "Now, it's legal for people to carry guns in Kentucky, and Kroger does not block its customers from taking firearms inside the stores."
She then informed viewers that correspondent Jericka Duncan had done a report about a woman "on a mission now to keep guns out of the stores." Duncan began:
Kelly Watson is now suing Kroger after her father's murder. She hopes that Kroger will ban guns from its stores. While some businesses have gun bans in place, others -- especially in open-carry states like Kentucky -- do allow weapons inside. But Watson says she believes stores won't be safe for everyone unless that changes.
After noting that Watson had filed a lawsuit against Kroger, a soundbite of her was shown asking: "Who would have known that Kroger allowed people to just walk in and carry their guns on their waist band and pull them out?"
After Duncan explained that, in each state, Kroger typically has a policy on guns that allows in its stores whatever state law allows, then came a clip of Watson's attorney, Ron Johnson, declaring: "You don't need a gun to buy groceries."
Speaking favorably of gun-free zones, he soon added: "You can't carry a gun into your school -- you can't carry a gun into the courthouse -- and what we're simply saying is grocery stores need to do the same thing."
After noting a report stating that the lawsuit cites eight gun-related deaths that have occurred on Kroger property, Johnson was seen portraying guns as making a grocery store more dangerous: "The duty of a store in Kentucky is to provide a safe place to shop. That is the law. So retailers like Target and Starbucks have said, 'Having guns in our stores is not consistent with having a safe place to shop,' so they don't allow guns."
At no point did Duncan point out that a gunman could simply conceal a weapon and bring it into a store, or even just shoot their way in, in defiance of a gun ban and any employee who might try to stop them. It wasn't even suggested that employees bring their own guns to stop mass shooters.
The report bizarrely concluded by suggesting that simply ban guns from store premises would stop criminals from bringing them onto the premises to make their attacks:
JERICKA DUNCAN: Watson says she hopes her lawsuit will help make public spaces safer.
KELLY WATSON: As this continues to occur not just at a Kroger but at a Walmart or at a church, it is traumatic -- it is violent -- it is dramatic -- it is painful. We have to do something to try to prevent these things from happening again to others.
As the group of co-anchors discussed the report after it had finished, Mason commented: "You can't help but remember what that attorney said -- you don't need a gun to buy groceries."
After King chimed in, "To buy groceries," Dokoupil injected: "Yeah, you really feel for this family, and that is true, you do not need a gun to buy groceries."
But, as previously documented by NewsBusters, several of the networks informed viewers that a man with a concealed carry permit confronted the gunman at Kroger, which was even reported by the CBS Evening News at the time, even though that angle was not mentioned this time.
