On CNN State of the Union, host (and presidential debate co-moderator) Jake Tapper tried to coax Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) into supporting a legislative ban on bump stocks in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling repealing the ATF’s administrative ban. Cotton called out the left’s double standard in enforcing the law, and on the Supreme Court.
Watch the exchange, as aired on CNN State of the Union on Sunday, June 16th, 2024 (click "Expand"):
JAKE TAPPER: The U.S. Supreme Court Friday overturned the Trump-era ban on bump stocks which were used to make firearms arguably deadlier during the 2017 last Vegas shooting, which killed 58 people, the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The Court suggested it- there does seem to be a majority on the Court that would support such a move legislatively, just not through the regulatory process, would you support enshrining the Trump-era ban in legislation?
TOM COTTON: Well, Jake, first I want to make a point about the Supreme Court more broadly. For years, Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden have attacked this Court because they don't like the fact that it's got a center right constitutionalist majority. They claim that it makes outcomes-based decisions. What you saw on Friday was the opposite of that. You saw the six Republican-appointed justices reversing a Trump Administration regulation. That's the opposite of outcomes-based judiciary- or, judging. They focused on the text and the meaning of statutes and of our Constitution exactly as they should. Now on the legislative question, I would suggest before we infringe on the rights of law-abiding American citizens, we should crack down on violent crime and gun crimes. I've introduced numerous bills that would extend sentences for gun felons. The Democrats won't join me because they don't believe in harsh criminal penalties. Or maybe we should close our border where we've had so many criminal aliens crossing. We just recently learned that the murderer of Rachel Morin, a beautiful young mother of five, was a savage degenerate from El Salvador, who raped and beat her after doing something similar in El Salvador. Yet Joe Biden, rather than getting serious about immigrant crime, is about to give amnesty to more than 1 million illegal aliens. That's what we should be doing before we start threatening the rights of law-abiding American citizens.
TAPPER: So you think that banning bump stocks is an- an infringement on the Second Amendment?
COTTON: I think it could- it treads close to the line. You’dt want to look at the legislative language, but more than anything, what we need to do to stop crime in this country is to get tough on crime. Look what just happened across the street from The White House. You had a bunch of pro-Hamas lunatics engaged in violent protests defacing the statues of great American veterans. A black letter violation of American law. There was not a single arrest of those protesters, of those hooligans who were attacking statues, who even injured a law enforcement officer. That's to say nothing of the prosecutors we see all across this country, elected as Democrats, who are not serious about prosecuting violent crime.
A common theme within the Regime Media is to enable criticism of the Court over the ban repeal rather than discuss the substance of the ruling and the significance of a potential unwinding of Chevron. Tapper only hints at that when asking Cotton if he would support a ban through legislative process rather than through administrative regulation. But of course, that conversation did not happen.
Instead, we got the usual fare: a rundown of the left’s favorite issues when interviewing Republicans. To wit: Ukraine assistance in a second Trump administration, support of the peaceful transfer of presidential power, a commitment to certify the 2024 presidential election, potential Trump pardons of the January 6th defendants, and vice presidential speculation.
Cotton addressed these issues throughout the extensive interview, but made sure to address the double standards in law enforcement. When addressing J6 pardons, he addressed nonconvictions of the riotous mob protesting outside the homes of Supreme Court justices. Cotton also addressed the lack of arrests as monuments were defaced in pro-Hamas protests across the street from The White House.
Furthermore, Cotton addressed the horrendous murder of Rachel Morin at the hands of an illegal alien who entered into the country in 2023 while fleeing a similar murder in El Salvador- border security as one of a number of law and order initiatives to be taken before immediately revisiting a constitutionally dubious bump stock ban.
The Regime Media shows yet again that it would prefer to promote gun bans rather than substantively cover the issues of the day.
