Backfire: Last Night's Gun Control Rally on CNN Will Energize 2nd Amdt Supporters....

[MMC]

Revealing: Pro-Gun Control CNN 'Townhall Meeting' Audience Cheers Banning All Semi-Automatic Rifles.....

https://media.townhall.com/townhall/reu/ha/2018/53/a0227c47-618a-439a-bdce-13f1ff10ae15.jpg


At CNN's special 'town hall meeting' event last night, the designated villains were pro-gun rights advocates like Sen. Marco Rubio and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch (a friend of mine who I think comported herself rather well in Florida under difficult circumstances, then undercut her message today with comments like this (https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/966718243598716928)). The tone and content of many of the questions, and the range of reactions from the stacked and emotional audience, painted Second Amendment supporters as unfeeling, heartless monsters who are complicit in mass murder and paid off by special interests not to care about innocent lives (https://twitter.com/CNN/status/966658875805052930). Here is a prime example of an ugly, deliberately-planned shot taken by a newly-created demagogue:


Allahpundit @allahpundit
“Senator Rubio, it's hard to look at you and not look down the barrel on an AR-15 and not look at Nikolas Cruz” https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2018/02/21/cnns-tapper-sits-back-student-equates-rubio-school-shooter … (https://t.co/moTuJakOOW)
8:10 AM - Feb 22, 2018 (https://twitter.com/allahpundit/status/966676662149636097)



Nevertheless, treating the other side in a policy debate as pro-death enemies doesn't seem like a pragmatic way to sway hearts and minds -- an insight that also applies to some pro-life arguments on abortion, another issue on which tensions run high, and on which media bias is uniquely excruciating (https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2018/02/22/the-medias-coverage-of-extremism-on-guns-and-abortion-reveals-deep-biases-n2452421). In any case, I wanted to highlight this exchange (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/966500059499069442) from last evening's event, which many on the Left celebrated:


Rubio was asked about reimposing (https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/06/assault-weapon-ban-no-orlando-shooting-guns/) the so-called "assault weapons" ban, the repeal of which did not lead (https://www.aei.org/publication/chart-of-the-day-more-guns-less-gun-violence-between-1993-and-2013/) to an increase in gun crime (just the opposite (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/07/181998015/rate-of-u-s-gun-violence-has-fallen-since-1993-study-says), in fact). His answer explained why, in actual practice, such a law would not work -- and how in order to have the desired effect, the government would need to ban every semi-automatic rifle in America. Most of the crowd burst into cheers. This was hailed (https://twitter.com/thehill/status/966712717116628992) as a powerful anti-gun moment and an embarrassment (https://www.thewrap.com/marco-rubios-warning-full-assault-weapon-ban-backfires-crowd-loves-idea-video/) for Rubio (https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/status/966503029204832261), but it was neither. Whenever we debate gun control as a nation, most of the Left (some people are more explicitly honest about their intentions) insists that it's fear-driven paranoia that leads 'bitter clingers' to believe that the government is going to outlaw their guns. We're not coming to ban your guns, they say. We just want to implement a few 'common sense' restrictions like universal background checks (which already apply (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/02/guns-state-background-checks-study) to the overwhelming majority of gun purchases). Gun owners and Second Amendment adherents are instinctively skeptical and suspicious of this line.


Then we see a Republican Senator pointing out on national television that the real-world effect of a major gun control proposal would entail flat-out outlawing a huge (and growing) (https://www.nraila.org/articles/20130215/assault-weapons-overview) percent of rifles...and thousands of anti-gun activists respond by applauding heartily. What visceral lesson might pro-gun rights alleged 'paranoiacs' draw from this display? Perhaps they'll conclude that their ideological opponents are, in fact, eager to grab and ban guns, and that their smooth, incrementalist talking points are meant to deceive through disingenuous assurances of restraint. Duly noted, a gun owner might think to herself after watching the Rubio clip. We cannot give these people an inch. In other words, that video snippet will resonate with millions, just not in the way many in the media would expect or hope. A number of conservatives share my instinct (https://twitter.com/DavidAFrench/status/966513920025362433) on this:


Rubio himself also responded on Twitter (https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/966574965423333377), writing: "Banning all semi-auto weapons may have been popular with the audience at #CNNTownHall (https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNNTownHall?src=hash), but it is a position well outside the mainstream." He's correct (https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/poll-only-36-americans-support-ban-semi-auto-assault-rifles), and I suspect that many of the people to clap along to the notion of barring semi-automatic weapons don't even know what that term means, and what the resulting policy implications would be. But gun rights supporters certainly do. I'll leave you with a thought about channeling and processing grief in a healthy way, and a challenge to Congressional Democrats (https://twitter.com/HotlineJosh/status/966691039267491840), based on the thunderous applause in the venue last night:


Mary Katharine Ham
✔ @mkhammer
Putting aside politics & policy, minors who have been through this much trauma should be talking to mental health professionals at least as much as they are to anchors & reporters. This kind of grief is not to be trifled with.
6:01 AM - Feb 22, 2018 (https://twitter.com/mkhammer/status/966644107962699776) .....snip~


https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2018/02/22/revealing-cnn-townhall-meeting-audience-cheers-banning-all-rifles-media-swoons-n2452806


That's Right CNN.....Backfire. How you mopes looking now?


MK Ham is correct. These kids have been traumatized. They should be talking to mental health professionals and not Anchors and Reporters.

[MMC]

CNN’s Town Hall Event Become An Orwellian Two Minutes Of Hate Rally Against The NRA.....


https://media.townhall.com/townhall/reu/ha/2018/52/1ac9dad2-46de-47ed-bd8d-d7fe315f910e.jpg


Well, talk about a tale of two meetings. The one hosted by President Trump with those who have been victimized by mass shootings was respectful, grounded, and doled out logical solutions. Yes, there was some talk about assault weapons bans and Australian-style gun control, but a lot of family members who lost their loved ones to gun violence said more armed guards, possibly the teachers themselves should be considered. Better security at schools concerning access to buildings also need to be addressed as well. That was earlier in the afternoon on Wednesday. Later that evening, CNN held a town hall event in Sunrise, Florida. The National Rifle Association agreed to participate, along with Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL).


It was a hostile environment. Period. Sen. Nelson wants a new ban on so-called assault weapons. He slammed Gov. Rick Scott for incentivizing a gun manufacturer that makes the AR-15 rifles to move to Florida. That was the main course in this segment, which was broken up into two parts. The second half was with NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch and Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.


Stephen Miller
✔ @redsteeze
A teacher wants the 2nd Amendment explained to her as the crowd cheers taking away semi-automatics. This is a better ad than the NRA could have ever hoped for.
9:28 PM - Feb 21, 2018 (https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/966515063174631424)


Rubio became the punching bag. One father, Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter in the tragic shooting last week, was the first to confront the Florida Republican, saying his remarks, and that of President Trump since the event, were “pathetically weak.” A lot of cheers were thrown when Rubio was slapped repeatedly for not catering to the anti-gun atmosphere. Rubio did say he now supports raising the minimum age to buy a rifle to 21, might support limiting magazine sizes, and banning bump stocks (via WaPo (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2018/02/21/marco-rubio-aims-for-nuance-at-town-hall-while-the-crowd-demands-gun-control-action/?utm_term=.4c049fe6b5a7)):


Cameron Kasky not only asked Rubio if he would stop accepting NRA donations, but even equated him to the shooter, Nikolas Cruz. CNN host Jake Tapper just sat there (via NewsBusters (https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2018/02/21/cnns-tapper-sits-back-student-equates-rubio-school-shooter)):


The second segment saw Dana Loesch taking serious heat from the audience, with more than a few people calling her a murderer (https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2018/02/21/insanity-cnn-town-hall-student-questions-loeschs-motherhood). She noted that this was a monstrous act, and that the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, shouldn’t have been able to buy a firearm. The background check system needs to be updated and reformed, so that his disturbing behavior could be properly documented in the system. Cruz had no prior criminal convictions and was not adjudicated as mentally defective, which would have barred him from buying an AR-15. On January 5, the FBI received a tip that Cruz could carry out a school shooting. The bureau never followed up on it; something FBI Director Chris Wray admitted last week. The FBI was invited to the town hall event, but declined. They dropped the ball, as did local law enforcement, which visited his home 39 times (https://nypost.com/2018/02/16/deputies-called-to-suspected-shooters-home-39-times-over-seven-years/) over a seven-year period, documenting episodes that were described as that of a “mentally ill person.” There were many red flags that were not acted upon, something that Loesch pointed out during this second hour of the town hall event.


Yet, where things got ugly was when Loesch was asked why the NRA position is not to raise the age of purchasing long guns to 21. She mentioned Kimberly Corban was on a previous CNN town hall on the Second Amendment when Obama was president; he mansplained gun politics (https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2016/01/08/rape-survivor-to-obama-your-gun-control-agenda-makes-protecting-my-family-harder-for-me-n2101563) to her, by the way. She was brutally raped in college and wishes she was able to defend herself with a firearm, probably a shotgun, which drew boos from the crowd. Yeah, that’s the anti-gun Left, people.


This is as partisan as it gets. When people say it’s not about red states and blue states, it is. When they say it’s not about Republicans and Democrats, it is. We’re about to go to war over the Second Amendment freedoms in America again—and CNN helped fire the first salvo. I hate the Left for this. I want to grieve for these families. It’s not right that my first instinct is how are we going to defend against the anti-gunners' pervasive nonsense on this issue. Yet, that’s where we are. We're stacking sandbags because I think a concerted assault against the Constitution is coming. As a proud American, I cannot let that happen. The Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski was apt in describing the whole show as a two minutes of hate against the NRA a la Orwell’s 1984. I guess a silver lining is that a lot of people gave Loesch and Rubio credit for venturing into lion’s den. Gun sales might spike over the theatrics. But make no mistake; these people are coming after us. It’s time to beat them on the battlefield of ideas (again), though this time I’m expecting a harder slog.....snip~

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2018/02/22/cnn-town-hall-n2452539



What the Repubs needed was some bruthas that wouldn't be afraid to diss the leftness on camera and show why they nothing more than some lying devious mopes. I would have humiliated these lamefucks. While laughing at CNN's set up crowd.

[Peter1469]

Will the younger generations toss out the 2nd Amendment? With my experience in recent years with law school interns at my office, the all do not believe the Constitution means much. They believe it changes at a whim.

[MMC]

Will the younger generations toss out the 2nd Amendment? With my experience in recent years with law school interns at my office, the all do not believe the Constitution means much. They believe it changes at a whim.

One thing is for certain.....the younger generations wont be able to save CNN's ass.


Watch CNN’s Scripted Anti-Gun Town Hall Go Completely Off The Rails (http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/22/watch-cnns-anti-gun-town-hall-go-completely-off-rails/) February 22, 2018 By Rachel Stoltzfoos (http://thefederalist.com/author/rachelstoltzfoos/)
CNN’s Jake Tapper intervened to protect a Democrat senator from a questioner’s unhinged tirade during the network’s anti-gun town hall.




CNN’s Insane Anti-Gun Townhall Will Only Help The NRA (http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/22/cnns-insane-anti-gun-townhall-will-help-nra/)
February 22, 2018 By Ben Domenech (http://thefederalist.com/author/bdomenech/)
So thanks a lot for adding to our discourse, CNN.



http://thefederalist.com/

[Peter1469]

The younger generation hates both the right and the left.

Interesting times.

[MMC]

The younger generation hates both the right and the left.

Interesting times.


I thought my sons generation was lacking. 25 an 26. But these kids that are 17 to 21 are some of the dumbest kids that I have ever seen. Most don't even know how to communicate in real time, and talk about not having any street smarts. They certainly hold the dubious honor of being a victim waiting to happen.

Moreover they don't even want to listen to the old school.


But then again when they start believing that CNN and its people knows what they are talking about. You know we have lost that generation to the ranks of the sheep that will end up being slaughtered.