Following the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise and the others present at the Republican baseball practice, there was a notable dearth of the gun-control pushing by the Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). That fact was also picked up by ABC’s Martha Raddatz, who questioned her panel about why that was during This Week on Sunday. “Do you think that had to do with the fact that you had the capitol police officer there-- the security detail who really did stop this from being a much more tragic event,” she asked, triggering a rush to push the policy. According to one panelist, the facts of the shooting backed up the pro-gun stance.
The question was initially directed at Democratic Pollster Margie Omero. “We don't need to wait for more tragedies to take action on guns,” she responded enthusiastically. “This is a way we can be healing because voters are ready.”
She touted how she had recently taken part in conducting a poll on gun-control to mark the one-year anniversary of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub terror attack. “We found a majority of Americans want fewer guns. They want guns harder to get. And we tested 16 different proposals, majorities of Americans supported 15, even in gun households,” she claimed without providing any details of what was specifically asked or what the proposals were.
It’s worth noting that every time the panel or Raddatz mentioned the Orlando attack they only referred to it as a mass shooting and not an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack.
“The problem is a majority of Americans don't vote in the GOP primary, so-- And I agree with everything you're saying,” quipped CNN Commentator Marc Lamont Hill. “The problem though is: This is about politics. This has never been about what most Americans want.” And in a veiled reference to the National Rifle Association, Hill said: “We have to find a way to get beyond the kind of power of particular lobbies if we're going to get anywhere.” According to him “that’s part of the danger.”
And in a bizarre statement, Hill described the shooting as a “perfect case study” of the pro-gun philosophy:
But if you are on the right this week, this was your perfect case study. The whole argument of: good guy with a gun beats a bad guy with a gun. I disagree with that argument, but this was a case study that’s almost hard for the left to push back. And we wanted too, but it was hard too.
But the gun-control pushing didn’t end there.
Raddatz spent the last few minutes of the program lecturing the audience about gun violence. She read a Facebook post by Senator Chris Murphy who was “conflicted” about playing in the baseball game on Thursday. “What does it say about us as a country that we can so easily move on from such a seemingly cataclysmic event,” she read. “Are we so jaundiced to gun violence and mass shootings that it only takes us 24 hours now to revert back to business as usual?”
The ABC host made it clear that she stood with Murphy, a congressman who once tried to get a national “assault weapons” ban. “Senator Murphy is right. We have become too numb to it all. Massively desensitized to the carnage, as he put it. That, perhaps, includes us as journalists who rush to cover the latest shooting and move to the next headline,” she opined.
What Raddatz failed to mention was that much of the gun violence was due to gang violence, not mass shootings. And on top of that, she didn’t mention that the country had been experiencing near historic lows for gun violence, down roughly 49 percent from 1993. And the decline in the homicides was accompanied with soaring gun ownership rates, up roughly 56 percent from 1993. The Pew Research Center had determined that most people don’t realize crime is down, so no matter what her guest claims they polled they may not be aware of those crime statistics.
Transcript below:
ABC
This Week
June 18, 2017
9:35:13 AM EasternMARTHA RADDATZ: And Margie, one of the things about this shooting is, usually there's a lot of discussion about tougher gun laws. There wasn't this time. Do you think that had to do with the fact that you had the capitol police officer there-- the security detail who really did stop this from being a much more tragic event?
MARGIE OMERO: We don't need to wait for more tragedies to take action on guns. This is a way we can be healing because voters are ready. We just did a poll, we did it in May in advance of there’s the one-year anniversary of the Pulse shooting. That also happened this week, other shootings, dozens of shootings every day that don't make national news. We found a majority of Americans want fewer guns. They want guns harder to get. And we tested 16 different proposals, majorities of Americans supported 15, even in gun households.
MARC LAMONT HILL: The problem is a majority of Americans don't vote in the GOP primary, so-- And I agree with everything you're saying. The problem though is: This is about politics. This has never been about what most Americans want. Most Americans want universal background checks, still doesn’t matter. We have to find a way to get beyond the kind of power of particular lobbies if we're going to get anywhere. I think that’s part of the danger. But if you are on the right this week, this was you perfect case study. The whole argument of: good guy with a gun beats a bad guy with a gun. I disagree with that argument, but this was a case study that’s almost hard for the left to push back. And we wanted too, but it was hard too.
(…)
9:56:22 AM Eastern
RADDATZ: As we’ve noted there was a striking show of unity after that shooting at an early morning baseball practice for Republican members of Congress. Lawmakers joining together in a moment of prayer on the baseball field before the annual charity game went on as planned. But one player says he felt conflicted about being there. As a fellow member of congress was lying in the hospital in critical condition.
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy has played on the Democratic team for the past decade. On Facebook, he asked: “What does it say about us as a country that we can so easily move on from such a seemingly cataclysmic event. Are we so jaundiced to gun violence and mass shootings that it only takes us 24 hours now to revert back to business as usual?
Senator Murphy is right. We have become too numb to it all. Massively desensitized to the carnage, as he put it. That, perhaps, includes us as journalists who rush to cover the latest shooting and move to the next headline. We’ve marked the anniversary of some of those most devastating attacks recently. Last Monday, one year since the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. 49 killed in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. History. And yesterday marked two years since nine were killed at Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston. Those mass shootings are seared in our memory. But in the last week alone, 262 people have lost their lives to gun violence across the U.S. 559 more wounded.
Consider that, 262 killed in one week. So today, we think of Congressman Steve Scalise, as well as Matt Mika and Capitol Police Officer Crystal Greiner, who are all still hospitalized after Wednesday’s senseless shooting. But we should also pause this morning, we should pause and remember each and every life cut short by violence in our country. Because as Speaker Paul Ryan put it this week: “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”
