Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT) made an appearance on Friday’s edition of The Situation Room on CNN, where anchors Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown couldn’t help but push gun control propaganda and try to take the unum out of e pluribus.
Blitzer tried to hit Zinke with a one-two combo: claiming the weapon used to kill Charlie Kirk was “sophisticated” to scare viewers and that there’s such a thing as “common sense gun control.” Zinke expertly blocked the first blow:
BLITZER: This 22 year old suspect, Congressman, had a pretty sophisticated weapon. This rifle was very—if he was aiming from, what, about 200 yards away from a rooftop, it was pretty sophisticated. And I keep getting this question from our viewers out there. They keep asking, “Is it time for some serious, common sense gun control here in the United States, similar to what's going on in other democracies in Europe or elsewhere?”
ZINKE: This weapon system was a bolt action. So that's the most common. It wasn't an AR-15. It wasn't a—quote—“an assault rifle." It was just a rifle. You can go in as a citizen and buy a scope that is very sophisticated now. China sells them right online.
(…)And these scopes don't take a lot of precision, a lot of time. Maybe a long afternoon, you will be proficient enough on these.
This echoes what some experts have been saying over the past couple of days: the shooter was a decent shot but conducted the mission sloppily.
Blitzer characterized the rifle itself as the problem, implying complex weaponry should be kept out of the hands of ordinary citizens. But as Zinke pointed out, the weapon used in Wednesday’s incident did not require extensive training to operate. Such bolt-action rifles were also protected by the “in common use” standard spelled out in the Supreme Court’s District of Columbia v. Heller decision.
However, Zinke failed to stick the landing. Brown blindsided the Representative with an emotion-check:
BROWN: Are you comfortable with that?
ZINKE: You know, I'm less concerned, quite frankly, of gun control. And there are limits. You know, obviously, if it's self-propelled or requires a trailer, we need to talk about these things. But a lot of it is culturally we have just become an angry society.
If Zinke hadn’t buckled on the issue, the gun-control debate could have ended there. The obvious conclusion Zinke should have made was that firearms, regardless of their “sophistication,” were not the actual problem. The fact that the alleged killer used a “common” weapon proved that the degree of complexity was independent of their supposed need for increased regulation.
If banning weapons was the right choice, then all guns should be banned. If banning weapons was not the right choice (which it isn’t), then it wasn’t clear how any benchmark could be properly installed.
Brown caught a whiff of weakness on gun control and pursued it even further:
BROWN: So what more needs to be done to keep weapons from people who do want to commit acts of violence, do you want to commit a political assassination?
ZINKE: Well, in the cases I have seen, these are common things. Like, you know, I'm a SEAL. So I can tell you there's a lot of other things you can do that can inflict harm, and not just weapons, and not just a magazine that can hold eight or 12—we have drones. We have pressure cookers alongside the road. We have trucks filled with explosives.
Fortunately, Zinke made a great point: guns weren’t the only way to kill someone. If Kirk’s alleged killer didn’t have a firearm readily available but still really wanted Kirk dead, he could have found another way. Guns were the most convenient method of assassination, not the sole agent responsible. Weapons don’t get up on their own feet and start shooting all by themselves.
The other onerous theme of the discussion was comparing the U.S. to foreign democracies.
BLITZER: What worries me, Congressman, a lot of political divisions in other countries and democracies around the world, very serious political divisions—but people in those countries don't necessarily go out and get a weapon to shoot the political opposition, which is what we have seen now here in the United States. It's so worrisome to me that this is unfolding. But let me get your quick reaction.
ZINKE: Well, I think it's a sad day, again, for America. Again, I don't think it's the access to weapons is the issue. I think it's the access to insanity.
Zinke’s simple rebuttal somewhat quelled the comparison and ultimately shifted the conversation. But the left’s attempt to lessen America’s status as the most exceptional nation in the history of the earth needs to be confronted. The United States is great because it can do what it wants; sometimes that means copying what other nations have tried. But America is never required to compare itself to what other “democracies” may be doing. Blitzer’s subtle, but significant, subversion of American exceptionalism reeks of globalist tendencies.
Brown interrupted Zinke to reiterate on global unrest and run cover for leftists celebrating Kirk’s murder:
BROWN: But insanity isn't just unique to America. I mean, there's insane people all over the world.
ZINKE: Well, but some of the reaction was—some of the reaction was, “Oh, another fascist gone.” We had people in influence—
BROWN: Which is sick and gross.
ZINKE: Absolutely—
BROWN: And those, to be clear, don't represent the majority—
Brown’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it defense of the mainstream media may have slipped by Zinke, but it did not slip past NewsBusters. While some on the left are making an effort to cleanse themselves of divisive rhetoric and civilize the conversation, which does not erase the past.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN’s The Situation Room
September 12, 2025
11:29:49 a.m. Eastern
(…)
WOLF BLITZER: This 22 year old suspect, Congressman, had a pretty sophisticated weapon. This rifle was very—if he was aiming from, what, about 200 yards away from a rooftop, it was pretty sophisticated. And I keep getting this question from our viewers out there. They keep asking, “Is it time for some serious, common sense gun control here in the United States, similar to what's going on in other democracies in Europe or elsewhere?”
REP. RYAN ZINKE (R-MT): This weapon system was a bolt action. So that's the most common. It wasn't an AR-15. It wasn't a—quote—“an assault rifle." It was just a rifle. You can go in as a citizen and buy a scope that is very sophisticated now. China sells them right online.
BLITZER: Which apparently he had.
ZINKE: And these scopes don't take a lot of precision, a lot of time. Maybe a long afternoon, you will be proficient enough on these.
PAMELA BROWN: Are you comfortable with that?
ZINKE: You know, I'm less concerned, quite frankly, of gun control. And there are limits. You know, obviously, if it's self-propelled or requires a trailer, we need to talk about these things.
But a lot of it is culturally we have just become an angry society. And I think that's the core of it, is that we need a discussion. We need the opposition. You know, as a Republican, I think having a strong Democratic Party is healthy. I really do, I think, because you deliver a counter-message—but come in with better ideas, not just criticism, but criticism with a better idea. I think that's a healthy democracy.
BROWN: So, obviously, you're not going to solve anger overnight, right? So what more needs to be done to keep weapons from people who do want to commit acts of violence, do you want to commit a political assassination?
ZINKE: Well, in the cases I have seen, these are common things. Like, you know, I'm a SEAL. So I can tell you there's a lot of other things you can do that can inflict harm, and not just weapons, and not just a magazine that can hold eight or 12—we have drones. We have pressure cookers alongside the road. We have trucks filled with explosives. There's a lot of ways that can—and we have seen that in airplanes, that—great harm.A lot of us just have to say, “Enough's enough.” And those of us in a position of influence just ask, “Stop. Let's just take a deep breath.” Because, again, you know, as a veteran—there's six SEALs in the House and one in the Senate, and all of us fought for this country, for Americans.
BROWN: Yes.
ZINKE: We didn't fight against them.
BROWN: Right.
ZINKE: So I want to see, you know, “Enough's enough.” And maybe a veteran has a larger voice sometimes, because we’ve raised our hand and said, “Look, we're going to defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.” And, yes, that's the oath we're going to keep.
BLITZER: What worries me, Congressman, a lot of political divisions in other countries and democracies around the world, very serious political divisions—but people in those countries don't necessarily go out and get a weapon to shoot the political opposition, which is what we have seen now here in the United States. It's so worrisome to me that this is unfolding. But let me get your quick reaction.
ZINKE: Well, I think it's a sad day, again, for America. Again, I don't think it's the access to weapons is the issue. I think it's the access to insanity. And for somehow an act of violence of this scope, no pun intended, would anywhere be acceptable any time. And the reaction on some of the—
BROWN: But insanity isn't just unique to America. I mean, there's insane people all over the world.
ZINKE: Well, but some of the reaction was—some of the reaction was, “Oh, another fascist gone.” We had people in influence—
BROWN: Which is sick and gross.
ZINKE: Absolutely—
BROWN: And those, to be clear, don't represent the majority—
[CROSSTALK]
ZINKE: And we should push back and say, “Enough's enough.”
BROWN: Absolutely.
ZINKE: And to the degree we can, we should launch a campaign of dialogue. I think it is healthy to air it out, because we don't want to go into where we're—where all of a sudden political assassinations or the censoring of—
BROWN: Or school shootings. There's been 47 school shootings just this year.
ZINKE: Absolutely.
BROWN: The one in Colorado didn't get as much attention. There were two students injured, but—because it happened right around the political assassination.
ZINKE: Well, and you saw also the rhetoric about all these shootings came from one class of citizen. Okay? They came from Americans. So let's start there, all right? We're all one country. We all, you know, should be equal under the eyes of the law.
And—but, again, I think it would be well for us all to take, again, a deep breath. As a former commander of the SEALs, someone who's been—you know, I was in the top 10 as far as the secretary goes, and I have been in Congress. I think both sides just need to understand what's at risk.
BROWN: Yeah.
ZINKE: And work on things that maybe they're super important, like the economy, like jobs, like prosperity.
