Regular CNN viewers will have noticed that since Tuesday, CNN's New Day and a number of other CNN shows have been displaying an on screen tabulation of the number of mass shootings and deaths from mass shootings so far this year, in much the same style the network had been using to keep track of COVID death statistics.
This latest wave of liberal activism on the gun issue may have been the result of the liberal network's law enforcement analyst, retired police chief Charles Ramsey, who recommended such media activism to pressure politicians on the issue, as he appeared on CNN, Memorial Day afternoon.
On Friday's CNN Newsroom with Victor Blackwell and Alisyn Camerota, the show utilized the on screen display as it gave a forum to gun control activist Fred Guttenberg to praise Democrats and slam Republicans as he called on moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin to move left on the issue.
As Guttenberg appeared to discuss an ad that shows the heartache suffered by the loved ones of mass shooting victims, Guttenberg talked up passing more gun laws:
More people have died in America because of gun violence than have died in America because of war. And America right now is a war zone on our streets. We see the gun violence. We see people in the streets in the communities, in the malls, in the churches, in the temples, in the schools, getting shot and killed. And it's preventable. And we know it's going to continue because nobody is taking the measures necessary to do anything about it. But we can. And it is not okay. And it was time for a video like this to happen, because the truth is, the majority of gun owners -- and that includes those in the military who have used these weapons -- support gun safety.
After Camerota followed up by asking her guest if he was hopeful of new gun restrictions being passed by Congress, Guttenberg took aim at Republicans:
We are closer than we've ever been to passing gun safety legislation on a national level. The House is actually passing bills. The President is ready to sign them. We are also closer than we've ever been to not ever being able to get it done because of the way the Senate functions, okay. And the Senate has become a road block to saving lives. I am horrified by the fact that you have -- you generally -- you have a -- listen, you have a non-governing party right now in government. I won't even call them the GOP or the Republicans. They are a non-governing party.
Without explaining how any new law might have prevented any particular mass shooting, Guttenberg blamed Republicans and Senator Manchin for gun deaths.
During the entire segment, the on-screen tracker displayed the number of mass shootings and deaths so far this year. On Monday afternoon, Ramsey had called for just such an effort by the media:
The members of Congress are not going to do anything. If they didn't do anything after Sandy Hook, there is no reason to believe that what happened a couple of days ago, or any other mass shooting is going to make a difference, because it's not. ... they're going to sit on their hands, hope people forget. You know, I just hope these kinds of things just stay in the news, that we keep a body count, you know, just like with COVID, you know, the number of people murdered on the streets.
I mean, we pay attention to mass shootings, but every single day people are losing their lives to gun violence -- every single day. And in many instances, it goes -- it's almost unnoticed. And unless we really pay attention and get the public interested in demanding change, nothing, absolutely nothing will happen, I have zero confidence in the United States Congress doing anything at the federal level.
Friday's episode of CNN Newsroom with Victor Blackwell and Alisyn Camerota was sponsored in part by Carvana. Their contact information is linked.
CNN Newsroom with Victor Blackwell and Alisyn Camerota
June 4, 2021
FRED GUTTENBERG, GUN CONTROL ACTIVIST: More people have died in America because of gun violence than have died in America because of war. And America right now is a war zone on our streets. We see the gun violence. We see people in the streets in the communities, in the malls, in the churches, in the temples, in the schools, getting shot and killed. And it's preventable. And we know it's going to continue because nobody is taking the measures necessary to do anything about it. But we can. And it is not okay. And it was time for a video like this to happen, because the truth is, the majority of gun owners -- and that includes those in the military who have used these weapons -- support gun safety. They're just as likely to be victims of gun violence.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Fred, you are so right because any time there is a mass shooting or a school shooting, we all imagine that moment when the families first get the horrifying news. But we haven't seen it, most of us. I mean, you've lived it. But most of us haven't seen it in that vivid depiction. It is so haunting. I mean, I, too, am tearing up just watching that and knowing that you had to live through that. And then, Fred, I mean, of course it's continuing. When I pull up the numbers here of gun violence so far just this year, mass shootings, 244; deaths, 8292; injuries, more than 15,000. And so, Fred, I mean, you fight this good fight every day. Does it feel hopeless? Is there any glimmer of hope? Is anything changing since the Parkland school shooting?
GUTTENBERG: No, not hopeless. I'll say this. I actually have tremendous hope. We are closer than we've ever been to passing gun safety legislation on a national level. The House is actually passing bills. The President is ready to sign them. We are also closer than we've ever been to not ever being able to get it done because of the way the Senate functions, okay. And the Senate has become a road block to saving lives. I am horrified by the fact that you have -- you generally -- you have a -- listen, you have a non-governing party right now in government. I won't even call them the GOP or the Republicans. They are a non-governing party.
But the Democrats can do this. We do not need the Republicans to deliver on the will of the voters in the past two elections. It is time to break the filibuster. Senator Manchin, I've heard your comments of the past day or two. You are dead wrong. And people are dying because you are dead wrong, okay? The reality is you have done everything you could to engage the other side. You've done everything you could to engage the non-governing party. And they've given you the finger. They have no interest. It is time you step up, and you do what the voters sent you to Washington, D.C. to do. We're seeing people die every day, and this is now on your hands, We've got to get this done.
(...)
CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera
May 31, 2021
1:22 p.m. Eastern
ANA CABRERA: We are hearing from other law enforcement officials calling for federal changes to gun laws. Take a listen to the Miami police chief.
ART ACEVEDO, MIAMI POLICE CHIEF: Unless the American people speak out, it's going to be a long, hot, bloody summer, and we can thank a lot of elected officials for that.
CABRERA: What do you see as the impact potentially of police officials like that chief, yourself and others in particular just being more vocal on these issues?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, listen, Art was absolutely right. The problem is, when police chiefs speak out, elected officials don't pay attention. That's why he's saying the public at large has to speak out. Because these guys -- the members of Congress are not going to do anything. If they didn't do anything after Sandy Hook, there is no reason to believe that what happened a couple of days ago, or any other mass shooting is going to make a difference, because it's not.
I mean, you know, they're going to sit on their hands, hope people forget. You know, I just hope these kinds of things just stay in the news, that we keep a body count, you know, just like with COVID, you know, the number of people murdered on the streets, I mean, we pay attention to mass shootings, but every single day people are losing their lives to gun violence -- every single day. And in many instances, it goes -- it's almost unnoticed. And unless we really pay attention and get the public interested in demanding change, nothing, absolutely nothing will happen, I have zero confidence in the United States Congress doing anything at the federal level.
