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All 31 Pro-Gun Rights Senators Declined to Appear on Meet the Press
Betsy Fischer Martin of Meet the Press tweeted that they reached out to all 31 pro-gun rights Senators to appear on the show to discuss their views. There were no takers.
BTW, we reached out to ALL 31 pro-gun rights Sens in the new Congress to invite them to share their views on @meetthepress – NO takers.
— Betsy Fischer Martin (@BetsyMTP) December 16, 2012
David Gregory also addressed the no-show, saying, “A note here this morning. We reached out to all 31 pro-gun rights senators in the new congress to invite them on the program to share their views on the subject this morning. We had no takers.”
If you have a real argument to make for gun rights extending to assault weapons, why wouldn’t you make it now? They make their arguments all year long, but suddenly, in the wake of the results of those arguments, they refuse to appear on TV to discuss.
This should highlight the fact that the pro-gun arguments crafted by the NRA and Republican strategists do not hold up when brought to stand next to the results of the arguments. Yes, this is a sensitive time, but if you’re going to argue for assault weapons to stay legal, you need to be able to do it now.
They need to get on TV and tell the American people what they believe — namely, that they believe that if the teachers were armed, things would have been so much better. Of course, arming the teachers would open the door to suggestions that the same folks Republicans have been demonizing for years (teachers) would now be doing the job of first responders whom the GOP deem worthy of union representation, and thus should be able to collectively bargain. But logic has no place here, clearly.
The reason the NRA has so cleverly made it poisonous to discuss gun control post-tragedy is that they can’t afford to have a discussion on the issue. The majority of Americans do not concur with the NRA on this issue; Sixty-three percent of Americans support a ban on assault weapons, and that’s from a poll taken before this tragedy.
Cowards do what they do best. Hide.
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24 Responses to All 31 Pro-Gun Rights Senators Declined to Appear on Meet the Press
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William Toles
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 11:48 am
maybe they are using their heads; letting the hysteria die down a little makes for better decision making.
Yellow Dog Yankee
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
People like Lindsey Graham, Jason Chavitz, and Steve King have never made a good decision in their entire career.
Mark Phillips
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
No, that’s not it.
John OB
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 11:51 am
how about we let those 6 year olds be buried by their families before we start exploiting their deaths for our agendas… you people are disgusting….
you want a comment from a pro-gun person, call me up.
Terri
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
You are exploiting their deaths by trying to silence debate. that’s what benefits your side, and that makes it political.
Also, calling people “disgusting” while you pretend you’re morally superior is telling.
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Great excuse for running. In other words, now is not the time. Right after the next time will not be the time. If I kill 30 people it wont be the time either.
Now thats disgusting
Jo Hargis
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Just read an article by the wonderful Ezra Klein, who aptly pointed out that scumbags like you who try to shut down the discourse are doing exactly what you pretend to be criticizing yourself: Politicizing this tragedy. Don’t try to shut us up this time, it won’t work. You’re no different than any other cowardly NRA gun nut…you brag “ohhh, call me up!” but I notice you declined to leave a number.
All these guys who didn’t have the balls to show up for Meet the Press are still busy washing blood off their hands. They’ll be busy for a while.
Reynardine
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Then leave your full name and number.
Joseph Smith
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Thanks for the offer.
Q. Why did you not post your phone number?
A. Because your offer was insincere, and you are a troll.
D. Lowrey
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
how about we let those 6 year olds be buried by their families before we start exploiting their deaths for our agendas…
So John…by your own logic…we let the loons from Westboro Baptist go into the church during the funeral service to picket since they do have First Amendment rights to do so? No…the time to talk about this was right after it happened and to keep the heat on so this doesn’t happen again.
What’s the matter…John…can’t stand the heat because your ideas are the same as the 31 Bend Over Party members too scared to defend their own positions the rest of the time? You lose your precious gun…boo-hoo…guess you will need to get that penis extension after all since your Second Amendment extension may be taken away.
Robert Schiele
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 11:51 am
Is anyone surprised? I’m not. These people didn’t choose not to appear out of any sense of common decency, let alone because it’s occurred to them that they may have been wrong on the issue at hand, but merely out of a sense of political expediency. This country’s gun culture will never change, nor will any truly meaningful legislation regarding gun control/accessibility be passed at any level of government, until and unless this happens first: petitions.whitehouse.gov/...
Sammy
Dec. 18th, 2012 at 2:19 am
The repugs should have shown up. Gregory would have given them all a free pass on any nonsense they spouted.
Eykis
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Of course the cowards would not appear – there is idiocy that appeared in the form of Louie Gohmert. Gohmert and Jason Chaffetz of Utah are TWO of the IMBECILES who presented a bill that demands US House members carry guns on the floor of the US House – since they want more GUN FETISH WORSHIPPERS carrying, be sure to tweet them and let them know your thoughts @Replouiegohmert @jasoninthehouse
They are ready to give you their best reasons~
Reynardine
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Arming teachers would, in the majority of cases, mean arming women, and these are the same legislators who want women to be vulnerable to domestic violence, rape, and forced pregnancy and childbirth.
oldladyDem
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
When you can’t or won’t defend your positions, you just stand and say nothing. That ought to tell you something. The citizen military industrial complex being exploited by the conservative media industrial complex being funded by the NRA lobby and the weapons industrial complex to the detriment of “we, the people” and our civil rights.
PAMELA EDWARDS
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Anyu one got the names and he States of those 31 Senators?
Anne
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
They didn’t show up because they would have been forced to try defending an indefensible position. They would have made themselves look and sound even worse than they already do. That’s because the massacre of so many innocent kids is the end result of the obsessive love affair with guns at the expense of any sensible regulations and at the expense of common sense measures by some gun owners. This man’s mother had to know something was horribly wrong with her son, yet she failed to secure her weapons. She paid with her life and so did more than 2 dozen other human beings, most children.
Kerry Reid
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
In other words, the gun-nut senators didn’t have the guts to “stand their ground.” Why am I not surprised? No different than the chickenhawk war-mongerers of the Bush/Cheney administration.
Bonnie
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
I am sure they are planning to duck the issue, and hope it gets lost in the 24 hour news cycle before they get questioned about it.
Rick Venturi
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
I believe the 31 Senators could not appear on Meet the Press and defend their positions of “No New” gun control regulations because it is not a logical position to hold. That is, unless your only goal, is to protect the profits of the gun industry. Reasonable new regulations, such as requiring EVERY gun buyer to pass a criminal history check, and limiting the massive sales of assault weapons running to Mexico, could very well make us all safer and yet still honor the rights of us legal gun owners. The vast majority of gun owners agree with this position. Yet instead, these Senators are following the instructions of the NRA, which lobby’s hard against any new law that would hinder sales of any firearm, to anyone. This is regardless of the danger to our society and really only to protect the industries bottom line. It is an indefensible position, and is what is truly disgusting.
D. W. Skinner
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Maybe the Asylum wouldn’t let them out today.
djchefron
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Hey now, you are giving asylums a bad name.
Bonnie
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Well, here is 12 of them: americablog.com/2012/12/p...
I think we should all contact them, and find out how they plan to spend their NRA lobbyist dollars. Maybe they should contribute some to a fund for the 20 kids deceased in Sandy Hook. Just a thought.
majii
Dec. 16th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
I wouldn’t show my face in public either if I knew that my words and inaction were a root cause of what happened in CT on Friday. These republicans are cowards, and I hope that Americans are aware of their cowardice. I fully expect them to do the following: Senator Feinstein will introduce her bill in the Senate, the republicans will block it, or if it comes to the floor for a vote, they will vote against it en masse. While they’re working to thwart any attempt to reinstitute the ban on assault weapons, they will take to the airwaves where they will say that existing laws are strong enough to regulate the sale and use of assault weapons while they express faux grief at the loss of 20 young lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School. While they are doing these things, they will make an extraordinary effort to cement in the minds of the easily frightened and uninformed that President Obama and democrats are trying to take their guns away from them, and some of them will use this as a fundraising tool. I hope a majority of Americans are as angry as I am about their failure to ban assault weapons and pledge, as I have, to not let them duck and dodge their responsibility on this very important issue. They’ve hidden behind the NRA for far too long, and it’s time for them to face the ire of Americans like myself and vote for a ban on assault weapons. Only by voting for the ban will they demonstrate to me and millions of like-minded Americans that they are really concerned about the deaths of those kids and school officials in CT on Friday, and that they intend to do something to reduce the possibility that something similar could happen at another school in the near future. I’m not in the mood to listen to any more of their empty words meant to cover up the fact that they simply don’t care enough to do what they know they should do–vote for the bill to reinstitute the ban on assault weapons.