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MSNBC Showcases Democratic Senator Trying to Silence NRA with Cease and Desist Letter
Newsbusters.org ^ | March 26, 2013 | Ken Shepherd

Posted on 03/26/2013 2:11:57 PM PDT by Kaslin

The liberal media's push for gun control has long included the tactic of attempting to shame the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other gun rights activists into silence. That tactic was once again deployed by MSNBC's Thomas Roberts this morning in his interview with liberal Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), who is calling on the nation's oldest civil rights organization to cease and desist robocalls to phone numbers in the Newtown, Connecticut, area.

At no point in the softball interview, however, was it mentioned that some Newtown parents like Mark Mattioli and Bill Stevens have testified in opposition to fresh gun control laws nor that there's been a spike in applications for gun permits in Newtown following the mass shooting, perhaps because those facts cut against the notion that the entire Newtown area is anti-NRA as a result of December's tragedy.

Below is the transcript of the interview, conducted during a segment entitled "NRA's New Low?":

THOMAS ROBERTS: Our other big story today is talking about lawmakers in Connecticut considering gun control measures, including banning assault weapons, and high-capacity ammunition magazines. And it's growing with some outrage after the NRA released new robocalls to residents of the Newtown, Connecticut community about these measures. Just take a listen to yourself of these calls.

NRA robocall: Despite an outcry of public opposition, anti-gun legislators are aggressively pursuing numerous proposals that's designed to disarm and punish law abiding gun owners and sportsmen.

ROBERTS: Joining me is Richard Blumenthal, Democrat from Connecticut, who is calling on the NRA to cease and desist with those calls. Sir, it's good to have you here. You and your colleague, Sen. Chris Murphy, who is also a Democrat from Connecticut, wrote a letter to the NRA, saying quote "with the robocalls, the NRA has stooped to a new low in the debate over how to best protect our kids and our communities. Making these calls opens a wound that these families are still trying hard to heal."

What surprised you, sir, most about knowing these robocalls were going on and then hearing them for yourself?

Sen. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.): I was absolutely astonished, as well as outraged, that the NRA is calling families in Newtown, Connecticut, impacted by this horrific tragedy. And reopening wounds and feelings of grief and hurt that remain very real for these families.

And, the reason I was so surprised is that, you know, it had to be calculated and intentional. They had the technology to avoid calling certain areas, and even if they had that technology, they chose to go ahead and do it. So I think the NRA not only should cease and desist the phone calls, but also it owes Newtown an apology, and I think that everyone is entitled to an opinion, everyone is entitled to political action, but to make these calls really is beyond the pale.

ROBERTS: Sir, as we have this brand new CBS News poll finding a drop in support around the nation for stronger gun laws, it's at 47 percent today, that's a ten-point drop from December. And the NRA has been labeling the uptick for gun control the Newtown effect. What do you make of the drop in public sentiment, and do you think the appetite is starting to wane for quick action based on what happened in Newtown, for better gun control in this country?

BLUMENTHAL: The majority of Americans have favored and continue to favor measures to protect children and all citizens against gun violence. I think that majority is still there. It's been largely a silent majority, and the challenge ahead in these next couple of weeks is to make sure that silent majority becomes more vocal. I would not put a lot of stock in poll numbers one way or the other because I think the Americans want something done. That's what I've heard again and again and again in Newtown and Connecticut across the country, please do something about gun violence.

So stopping illegal trafficking, for example, in stolen weapons that have caused more than 2,500 deaths since Newtown, strengthening school safety measures, and imposing a requirement that there be background checks, criminal background checks, so that people who are convicted felons or fugitives or drug addicts or the seriously mentally ill or domestic abusers, I think those kinds of measures have attracted a real consensus. And the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines I think is still very much alive, certainly in the states, but no state can do it alone.

ROBERTS: Sen. Blumenthal, thank you so much, sir.

An objective journalist might raise questions about the propriety of two U.S. senators sending a cease and desist letter to a civil rights organization exercising its First Amendment rights, but Roberts failed to even consider that it might be repugnant to some, particularly gun-rights advocates, that elected officials were trying to cow a group into silence.



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; US: Connecticut
KEYWORDS: banglist; biasdebate; billstevens; connecticut; guncontrol; guns; liberalsanddemocrats; markmattioli; msnbc; newtown; nra; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; richardblumenthal; secondamendment; staterunmedia; thomasroberts

1 posted on 03/26/2013 2:11:57 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

A sitting Senator tries to stifle free speech. This is where we are today....

Actually I’m surprised MSNBC even had time to have him on after the parade of perverts they featured commenting on today’s Supreme Court hearing.


2 posted on 03/26/2013 2:14:30 PM PDT by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq He could sure play that axe. RIP anymore, it's about the USA!)
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To: Kaslin

No state can do it alone? I beg your pardon, Blementhal, states most certainly can do it alone. Some already have. Your problem is you don’t want states to have a say in whether your restrictive laws are passed or not.


3 posted on 03/26/2013 2:34:08 PM PDT by andyk (I have sworn...eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.)
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To: Rummyfan
A sitting Senator tries to stifle free speech. This is where we are today....

The far left has exactly the same respect for the First Amendment's freedom of speech clause as for the free exercise clause that they are trampling, the Second Amendment that is also being trampled by the far left, the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, the Eighth Amendment's ban on excessive fines if excessive fines will help them to impose ObamaCare and take over our health care, and the entirety of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. As Bloomberg says: a little bit of tyranny is a good thing if we are not using our freedom the way our ruling class thinks we should.

4 posted on 03/26/2013 2:56:04 PM PDT by Pollster1
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To: Kaslin

I wasn’t really astonished, but definitely outraged, that 0bama went on national TV less than three hours after the shooting to demagogue gun control. The ME hadn’t even been allowed into the school yet.


5 posted on 03/26/2013 3:04:37 PM PDT by TigersEye (The irresponsible should not be leading the responsible.)
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To: TigersEye
MSNBC Showcases Democratic Senator Trying to Silence NRA with Cease and Desist Letter

That doesn't sound very "democratic" to me.

6 posted on 03/26/2013 3:07:55 PM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Hey RATS! Control your murdering freaks.)
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To: Kaslin

Cease and desist or what? You are going to try to take away their other rights, too?


7 posted on 03/26/2013 3:31:36 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (There is no requirement to show need in order to exercise your rights.)
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To: TigersEye
I should add, "Do I look too butch?"


8 posted on 03/26/2013 3:50:25 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Travis McGee

LOL


9 posted on 03/26/2013 3:58:09 PM PDT by TigersEye (The irresponsible should not be leading the responsible.)
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To: Kaslin
I would not put a lot of stock in poll numbers one way or the other because I think the Americans want something done my agenda is losing. If the polls agreed with us like we pay them to, then they'd be gospel. But polls that go against us are just the result of astroturf and fakery.
10 posted on 03/26/2013 4:04:52 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Rummyfan

A sitting Senator tries to stifle free speech. In other news, water is wet and bears poop in the woods.

2014 cannot come fast enough. Hope these clowns keep parading their anti-2A opinions for all to see.


11 posted on 03/26/2013 4:52:49 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Red in Blue PA

You don’t really think we are going to vote our way out of this. Do you?


12 posted on 03/26/2013 4:57:20 PM PDT by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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