Public Radio and gun control
Predictably Public Radio has had some discussion about gun control and predictably they portray themselves as being very ‘open’ on the issue, as in ‘open’ to any and all new gun control legislation that anyone wants to push. In fact the shows were so predictable I would understand completely if folk here don’t want to waste their time checking them out, but if you do:
Show #1
The Politics of America's Guns
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/06/politics-of-guns
Show #2
Flyover: Let's talk gun control, again
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/08/flyover-gun-control
Details of the shows----------------------------------------------------------
Show #1
The Friday, October 6, 2017 Roundtable
The Politics of America's Guns
This show had three expert guests. Two of them were for more gun control and to balance things out the third was really for a LOT more gun control. Sigh.
This show was notable for the following: At about the 19 minute mark they had one of their expert guests toss out the mental health canard again.
We also learned in the show that it's just common folklore that the second amendment was designed to protect liberty and protect people from tyrannical excesses of government.
Show #2
Flyover: Let's talk gun control, again
Sunday, October 8, 2017
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/08/flyover-gun-control
I would say ‘lackluster’ describes this show. They never did anything that was very outrageous or noteworthy. They never take many calls but they took more than usual on this show. Here’s some.
1. They did have a caller that very civilly chided gun control advocates for not knowing what they were talking about.
2. They had the requisite Southern gun owner who said they would never take his guns, but he did NOT support allowing silencers and wanted MORE restrictions on who could buy guns.
3. They had a liberal in NY that was thinking about getting a gun. The host quickly told them how dangerous a gun would be to them. The liberal mentioned they were totally against assault weapons.
4. The had a concealed carry holder call in and the host was devastated when the caller patiently told her that had he been at the Las Vegas concert there would not have been anything he could have done. You know, the distance, no clear target etc.
5. A self-identified black woman from Chicago called in and wanted to know why the NRA didn’t defend concealed carry holder Philando Castile.
What really surprised me about the show was the comments on Facebook about the show. There were very few. A goodly number of the comments were from gun folk and they brought forward examples where Public Broadcasting shows their bias on this issue. The comments can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/MPRnews/videos/10155365360883591/
Predictably Public Radio has had some discussion about gun control and predictably they portray themselves as being very ‘open’ on the issue, as in ‘open’ to any and all new gun control legislation that anyone wants to push. In fact the shows were so predictable I would understand completely if folk here don’t want to waste their time checking them out, but if you do:
Show #1
The Politics of America's Guns
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/06/politics-of-guns
Show #2
Flyover: Let's talk gun control, again
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/08/flyover-gun-control
Details of the shows----------------------------------------------------------
Show #1
The Friday, October 6, 2017 Roundtable
The Politics of America's Guns
This show had three expert guests. Two of them were for more gun control and to balance things out the third was really for a LOT more gun control. Sigh.
This show was notable for the following: At about the 19 minute mark they had one of their expert guests toss out the mental health canard again.
Expert Guest: They (Congress) actually loosened restrictions with regard to the mentally ill. It's Incredible.
Host: Loosened restrictions as far as access to weapons?
EG: Yup.
Host: By people with mental illness?
EG: Yes they did.
We also learned in the show that it's just common folklore that the second amendment was designed to protect liberty and protect people from tyrannical excesses of government.
Show #2
Flyover: Let's talk gun control, again
Sunday, October 8, 2017
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/08/flyover-gun-control
This week on Flyover, a conversation about the division between Americans who count gun ownership as a fundamental freedom and those who feel that there should be more rules around who has the right to exercise that freedom. Our guests were Brian Levin, director of California State University-San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism; and Jaclyn Schildkraut, assistant professor of public justice at the State University of New York at Oswego.
I would say ‘lackluster’ describes this show. They never did anything that was very outrageous or noteworthy. They never take many calls but they took more than usual on this show. Here’s some.
1. They did have a caller that very civilly chided gun control advocates for not knowing what they were talking about.
2. They had the requisite Southern gun owner who said they would never take his guns, but he did NOT support allowing silencers and wanted MORE restrictions on who could buy guns.
3. They had a liberal in NY that was thinking about getting a gun. The host quickly told them how dangerous a gun would be to them. The liberal mentioned they were totally against assault weapons.
4. The had a concealed carry holder call in and the host was devastated when the caller patiently told her that had he been at the Las Vegas concert there would not have been anything he could have done. You know, the distance, no clear target etc.
5. A self-identified black woman from Chicago called in and wanted to know why the NRA didn’t defend concealed carry holder Philando Castile.
What really surprised me about the show was the comments on Facebook about the show. There were very few. A goodly number of the comments were from gun folk and they brought forward examples where Public Broadcasting shows their bias on this issue. The comments can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/MPRnews/videos/10155365360883591/