Fox News joined its right-wing BFF's in jumping at suggesting that the mass shooting could have been averted or ameliorated had the workers there been allowed to carry guns.
Media Matters got the scoop in noting that Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich and host Jenna Lee (misidentified as Martha MacCallum) quickly promoted pro-gun memes.
In a discussion on today's shooting, security expert Don Borelli told the Happening Now show viewers that the Navy Yard was a "very tough target" and "a fairly hard target." Lee challenged his assessment by suggesting that the lack of guns made it more vulnerable and thus more appealing. She said, "A hard target in that you would have to know specifically where you're headed, Don. But on a military base, you're not allowed to carry weapons. At least military personnel who haven't been issued weapons are not allowed to carry them on a base. And someone working or familiar with the area probably would know that."
Borelli agreed but argued that there was so much security it was not like a hospital or movie theater "where people can kind of come and go." He added, "It takes a pretty gutsy person or persons to take on a military installation."
Contributor "My family served so why should I?" Pavlich made the same suggestion on Twitter:
Media Matters also pointed out:
Contrary to the suggestion that the shooting could have been stopped if only people on the scene had been armed, the victims reportedly include police officers who were presumably armed. Moreover, according to a Mother Jones analysis, no armed civilian has stopped a mass shooting in the last 30 years.
As part of their effort to weaken gun laws, conservatives often suggest that mass shootings occur predominantly in places where guns are banned. But research shows that no more than 23 percent of mass shootings between January 2009 and January 2013 occurred in gun free zones.
I'm sure we'll see this meme more explicitly promoted on tonight's prime time shows.
Here's another thing Fox will be suggesting: that the Obama administration will be too slow or too reluctant to call this an act of terrorism.
Video below via Media Matters.
The NRA is the most powerful lobbying group in DC. They don’t care about the numbers resulting in death, only the numbers to maximize the profits for the gun and ammunition manufactures. In turn the NRA passes out political contributions candy to those who will vote the way they order. They know that all they have to do is claim the government is coming to take your guns away and a certain small percentage will respond by accepting these beliefs as truth and spread the lies and fear.
Sorry to have such a defeatist attitude but that is the reality of today. The slaughter at Newtown changed nothing. It only stayed in the news for as long as it did because the victims were little kids. It didn’t matter that approximately 90% were in favor of back ground checks at gun shows, those on the right knew the memory would fade except when we have the anniversary in December when the media will report on it and then move on. With the shooter dead this story will soon disappear from the public’s attention with only those who lost those they loved and who was there and traumatized by events will remain with them for life.
The 3 stooges and their guest analyst (an ex-cop or ex-military guy I think) were just aghast that the shooter was able to get clearance/an ID that would let him have access to the Navy base. Daddy Douchey was more than eager to call out the federal government on that. However, not a single one of them could be bothered to wonder how a guy who had been treated for mental problems could be able to purchase a shotgun within the last week.
Spot on, Thx4 Fish.
My guess would be that people who work with guns on a daily basis (aka military and police) are perfectly aware of how dangerous it can get for everybody if there are too many guns in untrained hands. Freedom to carry is actually a huuuuuuuge menace to themselves and the general public.
Most of the people at the Navy Yard were civilians and contractors. And it seems that the now-dead killer had full security clearance despite several brushes with the law throughout the country.
He was also a convert to Buddhism:
http://ww2.cox.com/myconnection/sandiego/today/news/national/article.cox?articleId=DA8RUD601&moduleType=apNews
Both Fox and the FoKKKsNotion can’t be happy about that — they were probably SOOOOO hoping the shooter was Muslim . . .
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@ Aria Prescott: “And I have to get this out of my system: in what universe is a Naval Yard a gun free zone? It’s a MILITARY INSTALLATION!”
Aria, you’re forgetting the fact that, simply because the Fauxites are cheerleaders for war/the military, does NOT mean they themselves have spent any time in either the military itself or on any military installations . . .
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@ Ellen: “Rick Patel, I have allowed you to post here because your sophomoric comments have been so ridiculous as to be entertaining.”
Funny, I never saw them that way — I saw Twatty/Tawny Jones/Rick Patel’s comments for what they were: the idiotic ramblings of someone with diminished mental capacity. To each his own, though.
I’ll join Janet in thanking you for finally getting rid of that assclown — but I have to wonder if it’ll really dissuade him: he may simply come back in the guise of another sockpuppet . . .
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Aria, of course they’re fucking retarded. It’s in their contracts.
Seriously, are they fucking retarded?!
I’m leaving this disgusting comment here as a record for why this guy has been banned.
Ellen
Followed by his usual hypocritical claim that the left will immediately politicize this tragedy.
… um… what else is new?
