During an appearance on CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight on Monday, CNN national security Analyst Juliette Kayyem made the Orwellian suggestion that guns in America were a “homeland security problem.” But the craziness didn’t stop there as she claimed “responsible gun ownership” means you don’t own semi-automatic rifles and that gun manufacturers have made mass shootings “very sexy.”
Kayyem’s Orwellian declaration against guns came in her opening comments when she was speaking with Lemon about a shooting at a grocery store in Oregon. “I hate to say it, but there's a new Beyoncé song called America has a problem. And every time I hear it, I think: this is it like, this is -- this is the homeland security problem,” she said. “We're just not seeing it as one, because each separate case we can explain away in some ways.”
In either a brief moment of lucidity or playing Devil’s advocate, Lemon made the logical point that it’s “people's actions” that are “responsible” for mass shootings. “There are people who have access to guns who don't go off and just shoot people and rob stores,” he noted.
Avoiding Lemon’s point, Kayyem opined about how the narrative for pushing gun control is changing and suggested those against taking away guns are for police getting murdered and were “often” the victims of mass shootings:
And Democrats have often been accused of sort of supporting defund the police. So, you have this sort of very focused effort to support police and law enforcement. And then, a narrative, or at least as we're going to hear from President Biden tomorrow when he supports an assault rifle ban that objections to gun control are fundamentally anti-police.
I mean, this is the way that this narrative is forming. And if you look at some of the victims in these shootings, they are often police who have tactical gear, they just are -- they can't protect themselves against some of this weaponry. We saw some military; the foreign military soldiers also be victims.
Lemon then teed her up to argue for an assault weapons ban, or as she called it: an “assault rifle ban.” A distinction that will come up later.
Kayyem admitted that even with the ban she was calling for, we would still see “consistent homicide killings.” But the goal was to “stop killings that kill people so quickly that there can be no police response.” “So, you're looking at this particular type of crime, which is 10 dead in two minutes, 15 dead in four minutes,” she explained.
But the average police response time in America is 10 minutes. So unless she wants us to go back to using muskets – where you’re getting off a one shot-per-minute – no “assault rifle” ban would stop an evil person from going on a killing spree. That’s just not how modern firearms work and is an unreasonable expectation.
In that same answer, Kayyem accused gun manufacturers of marketing to mass shooters and making their heinous acts look “very sexy.” “They begin to really market this kind of, sort of fast weaponry … And then that's why you've seen the rise of the mass shootings,” she proclaimed, without evidence.
As they were nearing the end of the segment, Lemon chided those who “think they're a badass when they're holding a gun,” and Kayyem took the opportunity to lash out at the National Rifle Association.
Ignoring the fact that the NRA funds and organizes gun safety and training courses, she accused the organization of abandoning advocacy for “responsible gun ownership.” She then explained that her definition of “responsible gun ownership” meant people who “don't have weaponry … unnecessary in civilian society.”
This Orwellian push for gun control was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from ServPro and Carvana. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight
August 30, 2022
10:33:18 p.m. Eastern(…)
DON LEMON: What the hell is going on? What is it?
JULIETTE KAYYEM: So, I mean, each of them can be explained as you, you know, as different, random different motivations. Is it the summer heat? Is it someone got evicted? Is it someone's mad at the grocery store? And then you take a step back and you look at the connective tissue across this country. Every demographic, every type of community is impacted. And it's the, it's, you know, it's, it's guns.
It's not a secret at this stage and its different kinds of guns. I don't pretend that they are similar. There are weapons that we're seeing and especially in the Safeway case that are, should not be on the street. Some of these are handguns, but it's a way in which Americans or some population of Americans utilizes guns as sort of conflict resolution or things get out of hand.
So, each of these can be dismissed as separate. But of course, if you, if you sort of look at the totality, it was a weekend of gun violence, period.
There's a new, I hate to say it, but there's a new Beyoncé song called America has a problem. And every time I hear it, I think this is it like, this is -- this is the homeland security problem. We're just not seeing it as one, because each separate case we can explain away in some ways.
LEMON: Yes, it, it is. Look, don't get me wrong. Yes, the guns are a connective tissue.
KAYYEM: Right.
LEMON: But isn't it, I mean, isn't it people's actions really, to responsible. There are people who have access to guns who don't go off and just shoot people and rob stores, and do you know what I mean? Leave people for dead.
KAYYEM: This is, yes, absolutely. And this is where I think this is where I think the politics of this, or at least the discussion around gun control is getting very interesting, because what you're seeing, at least in the last couple of months is a commitment to supporting police. If you look at the American Recovery Act 85 billion going to police, going to police departments from a Democratic administration.
And Democrats have often been accused of sort of supporting defund the police. So, you have this sort of very focused effort to support police and law enforcement. And then, a narrative, or at least as we're going to hear from President Biden tomorrow when he supports an assault rifle ban that objections to gun control are fundamentally anti-police.
I mean, this is the way that this narrative is forming. And if you look at some of the victims in these shootings, they are often police who have tactical gear, they just are -- they can't protect themselves against some of this weaponry. We saw some military; the foreign military soldiers also be victims.
And so, it's a very interesting confluence of the sort of support police and the blue with viewing objections to gun control as being anti-police. And I think that's a connection that most Americans can relate to. And most police departments, urban police departments are very supportive of gun control for this reason. They see who are often victims of these kinds of incidents.
LEMON: Yes. There used to be an assault weapons ban that expired, right?
KAYYEM: Yes.
LEMON: So, experts aren't clear on exactly how much of an impact that, that this is has, has been made here. I mean, what do the numbers say?
KAYYEM: So, the numbers are interesting. So, the assault rifle ban is going -- is going to be focused. And the politics people can debate about whether there will be the votes, but the focus is can we stop killings that kill people so quickly that there can be no police response? Even, or even the best police response cannot protect human life.
So, you're looking at this particular type of crime, which is 10 dead in two minutes, 15 dead in four minutes. We've seen these in which law enforcement bravely runs in. So, I'm not talking about Uvalde or, you know, in Texas or anything, but where police rush in. The gunman is only killing for two or three minutes, but he can get 18, 19, 20 people.
So, it's a particular focus on that kind of death. So even with an assault rifle ban, you may see either consistent homicide killings, but they're through, you know, they're with other weaponry. That's what the data has shown us.
What we also know is that during that 10-year-period, those mass shootings, the ones that were calling four or more deaths not including the killer himself, that those went significantly down. The reason why there was this 10-year, you know, sort of trial period, so to speak was the only way that they could get it passed at the time.
When that then gets waved, then you see the gun manufacturers start to throw this stuff, essentially making it very sexy, so to speak. They begin to really market this kind of, sort of fast weaponry. I'll just be very basic here. I don't need to be technical. And then that's why you've seen the rise of the mass shootings; four more deaths in a single incident.
And so, you know, look, it's a -- it's an important piece of it. It's not going to solve all the problems, whether he has the votes or not. Doesn't matter. The American public is relatively -- is basically for it. A lot of law enforcement are for it. So, you want to just basically push this narrative at this time when people see what's happening each weekend in this country.
LEMON: Well, look, yes, I get what you're saying, but it's just in, it's just someone people, a lot of this is people out there who think they're a bad ass when they're -- when they're holding a gun in their hand. Right?
KAYYEM: Yes.
LEMON: That they can do whatever they want to and that got to, we got to get --
KAYYEM: And it is --
LEMON: -- at that problem.
KAYYEM: Exactly. It's a, you know, one of the things that the NRA gave up on a long time ago, NRA used to represent responsible gun ownership, but then began to reflect really just the sale of guns.
But responsible gun ownership seems to me, I mean, is a common refrain amongst most gun owners. They get it. They have safe boxes. They don't let their kids goof around the stuff. They don't have weaponry that would, that is unnecessary in civilian society.
And I think if we can get to that dialogue, which is essentially, I think where Biden is going to be tomorrow, that responsible gun ownership, whether you are a gun owner or not is something that we can all agree on.
And it's that lack of -- it's because the NRA and other organizations really dropped responsibility from what they talk about when they talk about guns. They talked about purchases, which has been the shift.
And I should say that I think it's really interesting now with this sort of assault on police, the FBI and others, that you really are seeing this. I have never seen it before. And I've been in this field a long time. This combination of support for police. And these criticisms of police departments coming from what was traditionally the sort of alter egos of this debate.
LEMON: I get what you're saying.
KAYYEM: The Democratic Party. Yes.
(…)
