Who better to talk gun control with than the attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan? That’s apparently the thinking of ABC’s Nightline. In a little more than a week, the ABC program and CBS have devoted a whopping 13 minutes and 41 seconds to interviewing John Hinckley Jr., the man who shot the President in 1981 and also wounded three others.
But it was Nightline’s journalists that seemed the most excited to promote the newly released mental patient’s thoughts on gun control. Byron Pitts opened Tuesday’s Nightline by hyping, “John Hinckley Jr. One of the most notorious criminals in American history is free and says he's a changed man.” He added, “Now what he's saying about mental illness and gun control.”
Nightline co-host Juju Chang endorsed Hinkley’s thoughts on gun control, saying that “coming from you, that’s quite a statement”:
JUJU CHANG: Hinckley's crimes back in 1981 changed gun control in the U.S. In 1993, James Brady and his wife, Sarah, helped pass The Brady Act. And the Brady law ushered in a waiting period and background checks.
HINCKLEY: Right.
CHANG: Especially with regard to people who were suffering mental illness.
HINCKLEY: I certainly don't think the mentally ill should have access to guns. I mean, that's kind of obvious. Background checks are good. Waiting periods are good. I think there's too many guns in America.
CHANG: And coming from you, that's quite a statement.
ABC devoted six minutes and 56 seconds to the attempted assassin. On June 28, CBS Mornings hyped Hinckley for an additional six minutes and 45 seconds. While the journalists on CBS didn’t mention gun control, they were all very impressed about the scoop:
NATE BURLESON: For decades, we have known his name but not his voice. Hear from John Hinckley Jr. The man that tried to assassinate president Reagan. He talks about his state of mind in 1981, why he says he is different now.
GAYLE KING: And when you said that, Nate, I thought, “I’ve never heard his voice.”
TONY DOKOUPIL: That’s such a good point.
KING: I’ve never heard his voice.
DOKOUPIL: We know his face. We know his name.
KING: Yes.
DOKOUPIL: Never heard him speak. Until today.
CBS’s interview featured several bland, not-exactly-probing questions from Major Garrett: “Do you have any recollection of that feeling at that moment?...Mostly, that is something you can’t remember.....Because you don’t want to remember it.”
ABC using an attempted assassin to talk gun control was sponsored by Tums. CBS promoting Hinckley was sponsored by Chevrolet. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
ABC's Nightline
7/5/2022
12:35 a.m. [TEASE]BYRON PITTS: John Hinckley Jr. One of the most notorious criminals in American history is free and says he's a changed man. Why the gunman acquitted of shooting president Ronald Reagan by reason of insanity says he's no longer a threat.
JUJU CHANG: Can you understand why some would see you as a danger to society?
JOHN HINCKLEY: Not now, no.
PITTS: Now what he's saying about mental illness and gun control.
HINCKLEY: I think there's too many guns in America.
CHANG: Coming from you, that's quite a statement.
(....)
12:55:51 a.m.
CHANG: Hinckley's shooting spree would make him one of the most notorious criminals in American history. A bullet puncturing President Reagan’s lung.
(....)
12:58:07 a.m.
CHANG: He was diagnosed with five severe mental disorders and found to have serious defects in reality, testing, insight, and judgment, making him an unpredictably dangerous person. Do you ever worry that you might relapse?
(....)
12:58:57 a.m.
CHANG: Hinckley's crimes back in 1981 changed gun control in the U.S. In 1993, James Brady and his wife, Sarah, helped pass The Brady Act. And the Brady law ushered in a waiting period and background checks.
HINCKLEY: Right.
CHANG: Especially with regard to people who were suffering mental illness.
HINCKLEY: I certainly don't think the mentally ill should have access to guns. I mean, that's kind of obvious. Background checks are good. Waiting periods are good. I think there's too many guns in America.
CHANG: And coming from you, that's quite a statement.
(....)
1:00:38 a.m.
DANNY SPRIGGS (Secret Service agent from 1981): I believe in rehabilitation for individuals for certain crimes. In this particular case, we had two individuals who received injuries that disabled them for the rest of their lives. I wouldn't necessarily say he's earned the right to be free.
