Liberal journalists are all for sanctuary cities, flying in the face of federal immigration laws and federal jurisdiction on the matter. But when the small town of Republic, Washington took a stand against their state’s infringement on constitutional gun rights, the liberal broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) were nowhere to be seen.
During the Wednesday edition of Fox News Channel’s Special Report, anchor Bret Baier hyped “a sanctuary city proposal that Republicans and conservatives might get behind. It does not have to do with immigration, it’s all about guns.”
Fox News correspondent Dan Springer was on the ground in Republic where he spoke with Police Chief Loren Culp, who became “a local celebrity after saying he would not enforce the law, or one state law. Initiative 1639, a sweeping gun control measure.”
“I felt it was such a blatant disregard for constitutional rights that I felt like I had no choice but to stand up for the people that I serve,” Chief Culp told him. When he proposed the idea of Republic becoming a sanctuary city for gun rights at a town hall event, he apparently got a standing ovation from the residents.
According to Springer, “The new gun law bars 18-20-year-old from buying semiautomatic rifles and makes it a potential felony if your gun ends up in the wrong hands. It also creates enhanced background checks and mandatory firearms training.” And while Washington State voters “passed the measure 59-41 percent, but in Ferry County, nearly 3 out of 4 voters opposed it.”
Unironically, Renee Hopkins of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility whined to Fox News that “[t]heir job is to enforce the laws that are passed, not necessarily just the ones they approve of personally.”
The deafening silence from the liberal broadcast networks should be no surprise since they are masters of spin when comes to painting rosy pictures of liberal sanctuary cities.
When Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf gave illegals an early warning to an imminent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid, both CBS and NBC downplayed the act as just a simple “feud” between President Trump and the city. They didn’t think it was that big of a deal that the mayor helped almost 1000 illegals get away.
Back in early March of this year, NBC actively took sides with California (a “sanctuary state”) in their legal fight with the Justice Department. The network adopted Governor Jerry Brown’s (D) narrative that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions was waging “war on California.”
And when it came to criminal aliens in custody in sanctuary cities, the networks didn’t care when they were released into the public. Like when Denver released an illegal wanted for murder. ABC and NBC also turned a blind eye when ISIS member Omar Ameen was arrested in Sacramento, California after he infiltrated the U.S. as a refugee.
The networks also knew when not to cover sanctuary city initiatives they liked, when they knew any rational person would be opposed. Such as when San Francisco decided they were going to give illegal immigrants the right to vote. None of the networks covered that dubious move.
The difference between the town of Republic and those liberal safe havens? One sanctuary city was founded to preserve constitutional rights while the others were founded to flout the rule of law. The networks have provided a long track record of preferring one over the other.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Special Report
November 28, 2018
6:30:05 p.m. Eastern [2 minutes 17 seconds]BRET BAIER: New tonight, a sanctuary city proposal that Republicans and conservatives might get behind. It does not have to do with immigration, it’s all about guns. Correspondent Dan Springer tells us what one small Washington State town is doing about a gun law most residents there have no intention of obeying.
[Cuts to video]
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Good man, I appreciate what you are doing.
DAN SPRINGER: In tiny Republic, Washington, Police Chief Loren Culp was a local celebrity after saying he would not enforce the law, or one state law. Initiative 1639, a sweeping gun control measure.
POLICE CHIEF LOREN CULP: I felt it was such a blatant disregard for constitutional rights that I felt like I had no choice but to stand up for the people that I serve
SPRINGER: The new gun law bars 18-20-year-old from buying semiautomatic rifles and makes it a potential felony if your gun ends up in the wrong hands. It also creates enhanced background checks and mandatory firearms training. Voters across Washington State passed the measure 59-41 percent, but in Ferry County, nearly 3 out of 4 voters opposed it. Mayor Elbert Koontz is considering an ordinance, proposed by Chief Culp, to make Republic a sanctuary city for gun rights.
MAYOR ELBERT KOONTZ: Everybody in Republic has a gun. We don't have a giant crime rates because nobody in their right mind is going to come through a house where people have guns that know how to use them.
SPRINGER: When Chief Culp announced his sanctuary city proposal, he got a standing ovation. In Seattle, the reaction is a very different.
RENEE HOPKINS (Alliance for Gun Responsibility): Their job is to enforce the laws that are passed, not necessarily just the ones they approve of personally.
SPRINGER: The Second Amendment Foundation along with the NRA sued to strike down the new state law. Its leaders see poetic justice in gun rights advocates getting into the sanctuary business, up until now, reserved for illegal immigrants.
ALAN GOTTLIEB: In politics, there is always a pushback. When you try to take rights away from them, they stand up and they rebel. And that’s what you’re seeing in Republic, Washington.
[Cuts back to live]
SPRINGER: The city council will discuss the gun rights sanctuary city ordinance at its next meeting on Monday and could vote on it before the state law takes effect in January. The state attorney general, a Democrat who supports gun control, says he will review the ordinance if it passes. Bret?
BAIER: Dan Springer in Washington State. Dan thanks.
