Erin Burnett revealed her pro-gun control bias on a special edition of her CNN show on Sunday. Rep. Alan Grayson used the terrorist attack in Orlando to push for a new ban on military-style, semi-automatic firearms: "If somebody like him had nothing worse to deal with than a Glock pistol — which was his other weapon today — he might have killed three or four people, and not fifty. It's way too easy to kill people in America today; and we have to think long and hard about what to do about that." Burnett replied, "Well, you're right about that." [video below]
Grayson first launched his gun control talking points at the beginning of the interview: "The most shocking element of this is that one human being with one weapon can kill 50 people in a matter of two or three minutes; and that's disturbing to me. It is way too easy in America today to kill lots of people very quickly; and we have to think hard about whether we're going to allow that."
Of course, the left-wing Florida politician has no idea when the victims died, as the police hasn't revealed that. A Washington Post report on Monday morning pointed out that "much still remains unclear, including whether any hostages might have been injured or killed by crossfire" between the terrorist and police.
The Democratic representative also played up that "the weapon that was used today was a weapon that was illegal for ten years in America; and when the assaults weapons ban lapsed, it became legal and is now legal in 44 states." He then cited how Connecticut made the sales of military-style, semi-automatic firearms illegal after the Sandy Hook massacre: "I hope that in the same way that the people of Connecticut stepped up and made sure that could never happen again, I hope that we'll do the same."
Grayson actually interjected his point about the AR-15-type weapon used by the perpetrator versus his Glock after Burnett tried to wrap up the interview. He first asserted that "if...he was not able to buy a weapon that shoots off 700 rounds in a minute, a lot of those people would still be alive," and continued that if he only had the Glock, "he might have killed three or four people, and not fifty."
The politician's claim is not backed up by something that happened in a past mass shooting. During the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, the murderer used two handguns. One of them was a Glock 19.
The transcript of the relevant portions of the Alan Grayson interview from the special June 12, 2016 edition of CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront:
ERIN BURNETT: U. S. Congressman Alan Grayson represents central Florida — including Orlando — parts of Orlando where we are tonight. Just hours after the shooting, he Tweeted, 'Words cannot express the horror, pain, and sadness that we feel about this terrible loss.'
Congressman Grayson joins me now here in Orlando. You know, Senator Nelson was with me just a few moments ago. You woke up this morning and you saw this. You were awoken, I'm sure, in the early hours of the morning when this happened—
REP. ALAN GRAYSON, (D), FLORIDA: Yes. This woke me up — yes—
BURNETT: I mean, could you even comprehend what you were being told?
GRAYSON: No! But, I think, in retrospect, it's shocking to me. The most shocking element of this is that one human being with one weapon can kill 50 people in a matter of two or three minutes; and that's disturbing to me. It is way too easy in America today to kill lots of people very quickly; and we have to think hard about whether we're going to allow that. The weapon that was used today was a weapon that was illegal for ten years in America; and when the assaults weapons ban lapsed, it became legal and is now legal in 44 states.
One of those states where it's illegal is Connecticut. Connecticut went through the Sandy Hook tragedy, where a couple of dozen children were killed very quickly — until today, the second worst mass shooting in history; and now, sadly, the third worst. And I hope that in the same way that the people of Connecticut stepped up and made sure that could never happen again, I hope that we'll do the same.
(...)
GRAYSON: If I may say just this one thing further—
BURNETT: Yeah; yeah—
GRAYSON: If he were who he were — who he was, and he was not able to buy a weapon that shoots off 700 rounds in a minute, a lot of those people would still be alive—
BURNETT: Still be alive—
GRAYSON: That's exactly right. If somebody like him had nothing worse to deal with than a Glock pistol — which was his other weapon today — he might have killed three or four people, and not fifty. It's way too easy to kill people in America today; and we have to think long and hard about what to do about that.
BURNETT: Well, you're right about that. Thank you very much.
