During an appearance on MSNBC’s MTP Daily on Wednesday to discuss the Parkland, Florida school shooting, former ATF special agent Jim Cavanaugh expressed what could arguably be called a disdain for the Second Amendment when he chided it as a “suicide pact” and dismissed the concerns of gun rights advocates.
Cavanaugh was speaking with disgraced journalist Brian Williams when he expressed his true feelings about the right to bear arms: “Again, not to take away people's rights, but we can't turn the Second Amendment into a suicide pact. And that’s what we seem to do.”
“We're so worried about any kind of little, little thing that could violate any little, little right that we're just all going to be slaughtered for it,” Cavanaugh bitterly declared. “And it is crazy thinking some of those arguments really are not very grounded. We can do much better on that.” It’s disturbing to see a former law enforcement officer speaking about people’s constitutional rights in such a manner.
This discontent for the Second Amendment was a common theme throughout the program. Before Williams took over, host Chuck Todd brought on Florida Democrats and teed them up to attack gun rights.
“Go a little bit bigger picture here for me. 18th school shooting this year. I keep saying that because it's only the middle of February,” Todd lamented to Senator Bill Nelson. “And we go through all of this and then we try to do something in the Congress and we take … Senator Feinstein's bill which is that if you are on the terrorist watch list, you can't buy a gun. And we can't get that passed,” Nelson whined.
It’s worth noting that even the liberal ACLU opposes using the terrorist watch list because many are on the list inaccurately and it’s a way to remove rights with no adjudication.
“Do you have an idea of how to break through the paralysis on the politics of it,” Todd whined to Nelson before slamming his home state. “The state of Florida is well-known for having perhaps the most pro-gun rights owners laws in the country outside of Texas. The culture you may not be able to change on that. But how would you break through that paralysis on this issue?”
A short time later, Todd brought on Ted Deutch, the Congressman who represents the district where the shooting occurred and complained to him about the lack of gun control measures from Congress. “Look, as you know, Sandy Hook is about as tragic as it gets in one of these things. The Las Vegas shooting, the worst massacre we've ever seen. And it didn't seem to budge Congress at all,” he said.
Deutch opened up to Todd and complained about the messages he got from pro-Second Amendment citizens:
Instead of letting it dissolve into the typical political discussion with people tweeting at me telling me, “now is not the time to have conversations about gun safety.” And others saying, “stop trying to interfere with my Second Amendment rights.” And others saying, “it’s about a mental health issue, why aren’t we talking about that.” Let's talk about all of it and let’s do it in a way that’s not political.
The left claims they want a non-political solution to guns, but that’s code for “our way is the only way guns should be handled.”
The relevant portions of the transcript are below, expand to read:
MSNBC
MTP Daily
February 14, 2018
5:20:42 PM Eastern(…)
CHUCK TODD: Go a little bit bigger picture here for me. 18th school shooting this year. I keep saying that because it's only the middle of February.
BILL NELSON: Right. Chuck, I love your program, so why do I have to come on your program in a tragedy like this? It is a bad day. And south Florida is hurting. And here we go again about that and every time as you say one of these mass shootings, we say enough is enough, and then it happens again. (…) And we go through all of this and then we try to do something in the Congress and we take -- even Dianne Feinstein— Senator Feinstein's bill which is that if you are on the terrorist watch list, you can't buy a gun. And we can't get that passed. So you see the difficulty when you say, “well, what are we going to do about these mass shootings?”
TODD: Do you have an idea of how to break through the paralysis on the politics of it? The state of Florida is well-known for having perhaps the most pro-gun rights owners laws in the country outside of Texas. The culture you may not be able to change on that. But how would you break through that paralysis on this issue?
NELSON: Keep trying.
(....)
5:26:25 PM Eastern
TODD: It does seem as if that’s when people focus on it, when it touches them. And we all get that. What do you – Look, as you know, Sandy Hook is about as tragic as it gets in one of these things. The Las Vegas shooting, the worst massacre we've ever seen. And it didn't seem to budge Congress at all. There didn't even seem to be a desire to even start a commission to think about solutions.
TED DEUTCH: Right. Look, I've been -- I've devoted an enormous amount of my time here in Congress trying to do something to stem the tide of gun violence. But let's -- here is a suggestion, Chuck. Instead of letting it dissolve into the typical political discussion with people tweeting at me telling me, “now is not the time to have conversations about gun safety.” And others saying, “stop trying to interfere with my second amendment rights.” And others saying, “it’s about a mental health issue, why aren’t we talking about that.” Let's talk about all of it and let’s do it in a way that’s not political.
(…)
JIM CAVANAUGH: Maybe we should explore mass violence prevention restraining orders. Again, not to take away people's rights, but we can't turn the Second Amendment into a suicide pact. And that’s what we seem to do. We're so worried about any kind of little, little thing that could violate any little, little right that we're just all going to be slaughtered for it. And it is crazy thinking some of those arguments really are not very grounded. We can do much better on that.
(…)
