The journalists at CNN and NBC this weekend scoffed at the idea that one would blame the perpetrator of a mass shooting instead of the gun itself. First, NBC dismissed this simply as a talking point of “gun control opponents.” Then, CNN mocked the idea of personal responsibility, comparing guns to the opioid crisis.
During an appearance on Sunday’s edition of State of the Union, CNN Political Commentator and former Republican Senator Rick Santorum made a similar point about guns not pulling the trigger. According to Santorum, “I think the Republican Party is going to focus on what the problem is and the problem is not the gun, the problem is the people who are using those guns.”
Former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate turned CNN Political Commentator Andrew Gillum pushed back on Santorum’s analysis: “That’s like saying it’s not the opioids that are the problem, it's the people taking the opioids, that is ridiculous.” After stating that the Dayton shooter was able to “mow down a whole group of people” in 30 seconds, Gillum called for gun control: “it’s the weapons and we have got to get rid of them.”
Apparently, Gillum forgot that just days after the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, a knife-wielding man went on a rampage in Garden Grove, California; killing four people and injuring two others. Will Gillum start calling for knife control now? Getting rid of guns would not have prevented that attack, if anything, gun control would have made law-abiding Americans less able to defend themselves from such an attack.
Earlier, Gillum complained that “the strangle that the NRA seems to have over Congress, over Washington, DC, is insane” before asking “how can we put the priorities of one interest group above the safety, the security of the American people?" According to Gillum, “we will, eventually, have to get around to the conversation of what we do with weapons of war that are still out there on our streets.”
Gillum’s analysis made it perfectly clear that liberals have decided to declare war on an inanimate object. They fail to realize that no gun control measure will stop evil people from doing harm, as demonstrated by what happened in Garden Grove.
A transcript of the relevant portion of Sunday’s edition of State of the Union is below. Click “expand” to read more.
State of the Union With Jake Tapper
08/18/19
09:48 AM
JAKE TAPPER: Is, are some people in your party going too far and at risk alienating people like Amanda and SE, and I’m talking not in terms of 2020 but in terms of just getting something…
ANDREW GILLUM: Sure.
TAPPER: …passed?
ANDREW GILLUM: Sure. Sure. Well, first of all, I…I think there is a reckoning that is happening right now in this country on guns; on the left and on the right. Just yesterday, I think it was yesterday Moms Demand Action led, you know, thousands of people in cities all across America; suburban moms, urban moms and dads and others against this issue. The truth is is something has to give. The stranglehold that the NRA seems to have over Congress, over Washington, D.C, in my opinion, is insane. How can we put the priorities of one interest group above the safety, the security of the American people? Our kids are all going back to school this week or next or after Labor Day. My wife and I are both terrified of the fact that for the last five years, we’ve put and surrounded our kids with as much love and care as we possibly could and now they’re going to show up and have to learn what it means to respond to an active shooter drill in school. So, something has to happen here and we will have to eventually, in my opinion, get around to the conversation of what we do with weapons of war that are still out there on our streets.
TAPPER: So, your fellow Pennsylvania Republican, Pat Toomey, Senator Pat Toomey, tried to push for an expansion of background checks with another strong NRA supporter, Joe Manchin. He didn’t get very far. Does the Republican Party need to give a little bit on this?
RICK SANTORUM: Look, I think the Republican Party is going to focus on what the problem is and the problem is not the gun. The problem is the people who are using those guns. The problem is not trying…trying to ban guns or trying to put more gun laws in place because the people who are committing these crimes are breaking the law and they don’t really care whether they violate gun crimes or not. The reality is what the Democrats are doing and they…Pete Buttigieg was a good example here on your show this morning. You asked him the question “has that gone too far?” And he said “well, let’s do what we agree on, and then we can get to that.” So, even Democrats who are not calling for gun bans are saying “well, let’s do this first, and then we can get the guns.”
(CROSSTALK)
GILLUM: That’s like saying that there’s no…it’s not the opioids that are the problem, it’s the people taking the opioids. That is ridiculous. In Ohio…
TAPPER: Yeah. We have to go.
GILLUM: 30 seconds, 30 seconds and they were able to mow down a whole…
TAPPER: Yeah.
GILLUM: …group of people.
GILLUM: That just doesn’t make sense. It’s the weapons and we have got to get rid of them.
TAPPER: Thanks one and all. Appreciate it.
