CBS Bizarrely Wonders About 'Normal Kinds' of Shootings; Promotes Pro-Gun Control Protests

January 8th, 2013 7:42 PM

CBS This Morning's slant towards gun control emerged again on Tuesday as they reported on the upcoming meetings of Vice President Joe Biden's task force on new firearms regulations. Despite a graphic spotlighting how "activists on both sides" were ready for a "fight" on the issue, the morning show only featured pictures of pro-gun control demonstrations, including one of a far left Code Pink protester disrupting a recent NRA press conference.

Anchor Charlie Rose also asked CBS News political director John Dickerson an eyebrow-raising question regarding the passage of federal gun control legislation in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut [audio available here; video below the jump]:

CHARLIE ROSE: How much pressure comes from the gun control lobby?...do they believe that there's something different, though, because this was about those 20 young kids, rather than normal kinds of awful tragic shootings?

Charlie Rose, CBS News Anchor; Screen Cap From 8 January 2013 Edition of CBS This Morning | NewsBusters.orgHow is it "normal" for anyone to die at the hands of deranged individuals? The question didn't even faze Dickerson, who replied, "That's exactly right, Charlie. They think that something has changed here - that there's a boiling point."

Moments earlier, the political director had referenced the Tucson and Aurora shootings in 2012. In both instances, school-aged children died – a 9-year-old in Arizona and a 6-year-old in Connecticut. Perhaps, Rose forgot about these details when he used his beyond bizarre wording.

During the last month or so of 2012, the CBS morning show promoted gun control efforts. On November 30, they boosted Stephen Colbert making fun of a proposed dormitory for University of Colorado undergraduates with concealed carry permits. Four days later, correspondent Jim Axelrod filed a completely one-sided report that tried to tie the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide to a supposed "gun culture" in the NFL and the U.S. at large.


After the Newtown, Connecticut shooting, the program lined up pro-gun control liberals on December 17 and hounded Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel from the left on the issue the following morning.

The full transcript of the John Dickerson segment from Tuesday's CBS This Morning is available at MRC.org.