On Monday’s CBS Mornings, correspondent Nicole Valdes had a story much more in line with what a lot of us want to see out of CBS in this Bari Weiss era (and not the spiked-but-aired-in-Canada 60 Minutes piece on illegal aliens) as she revealed the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety was no longer simply be advocating to destroy the Second Amendment but offer in-person instruction on how to safely own and shoot firearms.
Unsurprisingly, Valdes revealed this wasn’t exactly being taken well by some in their base.
Featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers had the set-up for the piece that opened the second hour:
[L]et’s begin this hour with a shift for one of the most prominent gun violence prevention groups in America as mass shootings continue in the United States. Now, this comes as one of the victims of the Brown University shooting, Ella Cook, will be laid to rest today. Now, the group, Everytown for Gun Safety is offering a controversial training course. Some who support that group are not happy.
“Inside this gun range, these candidates are vying to become instructors for Train SMART, the new firearms training program from an unlikely organization,” Valdes began, cuing up “Army combat veteran” Chris Marvin, the man Everytown hired to put together a course he says is aimed at “working with gun owners and meeting gun owners where they are.”
She then gave a sanitized summation of the group: “Everytown for Gun Safety rose to prominence after the tragic Sandy Hook School shooting, campaigning to restrict gun sales and expand background checks. Now, their efforts are growing beyond gun control, taking aim at safer gun ownership.”
Marvin said nothing about taking lawfully owned guns away, instead saying “the paramount mission for Everytown for Gun Safety” will now be in part “promot[ing] this culture of training, safety and accountability around guns” for “the people who are holding the guns.”
Responsible use of the Second Amendment? What a concept.
Of course, Valdes found a key member of the group’s base supporters who was shocked anyone would do anything constructive with icky guns:
VALDES: But the shift has surprised some, including Colorado State Senator Tom Sullivan.
COLORADO STATE SENATOR TOM SULLIVAN (D): They need to remember who it was that was there to help them get where they are as people who are out there, who are visiting cemeteries and going to church services.
VALDES: Sullivan lost his son Alex in the 2012 Aurora shooting, fueling his advocacy for gun safety. He even became a face of the movement.
SULLIVAN: These words were said by the gun lobby —
VALDES: But when Everytown launched its Train SMART Program, Sullivan says he was left in the dark.
SULLIVAN: — I hope that we’re still reading from the same book. Maybe they are a couple chapters ahead of me.
Valdes concluded by saying Marvin believes this shift in the group — which will launch in-person “early next year” — will unite “those against gun violence and those for gun ownership together.”
Back in 2019, CBS’s morning show was similarly shocked by those who embrace responsible gun ownership after sending correspondent Omar Villafranca to speak with the National African American Gun Association. Just last year, The Washington Post was enamored there even existed LGBTQ+ individuals who were passionate about carrying out their constitutional right to protect themselves.
The liberal media never really seem to learn, do they?
To see the relevant CBS transcript from December 23, click here.
