NBC’s Today wasn’t as devoid of sobriety Wednesday as competitors ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS Mornings, but they tripped their hand in support of gun control by tying Republicans to the inability to thwart mass killings. But again, they were more constructive in sticking to the facts and the Uvalde, Texas families who’ve lost loved ones and had an important segment recognizing the need to better improve school security.
Senior national correspondent Tom Llamas used his opening report to tie Republicans as in the pocket of the gun lobby:
Texas Governor Abbott calling the tragedy a senseless crime. In two days, he was scheduled to join senator Ted Cruz and former President Trump at the National Rifle Association's annual conference in Houston. Overnight, President Biden expressing his frustration with the NRA.
Llamas added that while the town has “asked for prayers...so many across the country say they are sick and tired of just prayers” and instead “need real change.”
“When will it all stop? You don't have to be a parent to really feel the magnitude of this moment right here,” he said.
White House correspondent Kristen Welker retreated to the bloated number of mass shootings, claiming there’s been “more than 3,500” since Sandy Hook as “efforts to pass gun legislation have repeatedly failed” despite “polls show more than 80 percent of Americans support” “expand[ed] background checks.”
As conservatives often note after these tragedies, you wonder whether these people have actually thought through how their esoteric proposals would have thwarted this or that attack.
Welker boasted that Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) “[pled] with colleagues to find common ground on guns” while Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) “[said] more support for law enforcement is needed, not new gun laws.”
“In a sign of how politicized the debate has become, last night at a victory party for Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, supporters booing during the president's call for stricter reform,” she fretted.
Teasing a story in the second half-hour about school security, co-host Craig Melvin framed it this way:
Also ahead, a major issue on the minds of many parents and school officials this morning. What can be done? What more can we do to improve safety measures and protect children in classrooms all across the country? We're going take a closer look at that part of the story as well.
Correspondent Stephanie Gosk had the story and noted there’s a whole host of options when it comes to making necessary improvements to school security, whether it’s high-tech cameras, armed security, or even hardening schools down to a single entry point (click “expand”):
GOSK: After every school shooting, parents and school officials nationwide grapple with how to improve security and keep kids safe. Many districts have beefed up security, added new technology and run countless drills with kids, teachers and police, all in effort to prevent yet another tragedy like the one in Texas. This morning the question on top of parents mind: “Are my children safe at school?” There have been 27 shootings this year alone, according to Education Week. The disturbing rise in violence leaving a growing number of schools to incorporate extensive safety measures, all in an effort to avoid being the site of the next school shooting. Those measures including modern high-tech security systems, ranging from facial recognition to gun detection software.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER: We really have to make every attempt to stay on the most cutting edge, if you will, of that technology.
GOSK: Back in 2019, we profiled a school in upstate New York employing this first of its kind system. The technology immediately recognizes a gun pulled from its holster. If Officer Stover were a school shooter, this new high-tech security system would immediately call the police and then track his every movement by scanning both his face and the gun. Many school districts are also pursuing simpler solutions as well from increasing armed guards to adding more metal decorators and in some cases even allowing teachers to carry guns.
(....)
GOSK: Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, says many schools still haven't learned critical lessons.
ANDREW POLLACK [on FNC’s The Ingraham Angle, 05/24/22]: How hard could it be to have a single point of entry and armed policeman or highly trained teachers at the school? [SCREEN WIPE] It just angers me. This didn’t have to happen today.
Following Gosk, national correspondent Miguel Almaguer offered a news story masquerading as a commentary meant to shame those opposed to gun control, insisting Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr “channel[ed] the outrage of a nation” in his shoutfest about Republicans being enemies of children (even though Kerr himself has shown a cowardice toward standing up to communist China).
Almaguer later closed with another dig at the right instead of trying to understand and see gun rights supporters:
This morning there will be another call for thoughts and prayers and there will also likely soon be another preventable shooting. As with all of these devastating mass shootings, there’s always a call for change in legislation. Often, it’s lawmakers saying more needs to be done, but to date, clearly not enough action has been taken[.]
Today’s contributions to the gun control agenda was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Cadillac and Citi. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant NBC transcript from May 25, click here.
