British-born MSNBC Martin Bashir took the time in his September 7 program to lament the absence of gun control as a major issue in the 2012 presidential contest and to take aim in particular at Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), painting him as cavalier at best and heartless at worst when it comes to the victims of crimes committed with guns.
"Perhaps Mr. Perry will look at the past few days and think of something other than a witty one-liner for his response, should the topic come up," Bashir groused during a segment entitled "Armed and Dangerous" in which he played audio of the 9-1-1 call in yesterday's lethal shooting of National Guardsmen in Carson City, Nevada.
The MSNBC anchor also made note of a shooting spree in New York City over the weekend that prompted liberal Mayor Mike Bloomberg to rehash his calls for more federal gun control laws, failing, of course, to note that New York City and State have among the nation's strictest gun control laws.
As evidence of Perry's supposedly cavalier attitude towards human life, Bashir aired video of Perry quipping before a friendly audience that he favored gun control if you define it as "us[ing] both hands." Bashir also read with disdain a portion from Perry's book "Fed Up!" in which Perry hinted that he packs a handgun on his morning jogs in order to shoot coyotes who may threaten his daughter's dog.
To Bashir, apparently, the notion of defending your dog from a predator is ghastly, not admirable.
For good measure, the MSNBC anchor cited two recent studies on guns missing from factories and retail dealers, although he failed to note they were issued by failed to note that the studies were published by the Brady Center, a pro-gun control lobby.
Of course Bashir failed to say anything about the number of guns nationwide that have disappeared from police evidence lockers or armories in recent years.
Guns that go missing from those places are likely the result of bureaucratic incompetence and/or corruption, inconvenient facts for the gun control narrative that prefers to vilify the firearms industry.
