MMC
02-22-2018, 06:32 PM
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.
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.