CNN Uses Aurora Shooting to Force Anti-Gun Agenda on Viewers

NewsBusters.org ^ | July 24, 2012 | Matt Hadro

[Kaslin]

CNN used Friday's tragic shooting to force the gun control debate back into headlines this past weekend, and multiple network anchors made a blatant liberal push for further gun regulation.

The advocacy began just hours after the atrocity, despite both President Obama and Mitt Romney abstaining from politicking on the day of the massacre. "America has got to do something about its gun laws. Now is the time," CNN's Piers Morgan tweeted hours after the shooting. [Video below the break. Audio here.]

CNN Uses Aurora Shooting to Force Anti-Gun Agenda on Viewers

Morgan followed that up with more tweets and a Friday night show that was loaded with pro-gun control guests. Below are some of the most egregious examples of CNN's bias in favor of gun control from Friday, July 20, through Monday, July 23:

"You tell me a good reason why we should not strengthen the law now to stop another young man like him going into a store tomorrow, buying four more weapons, 6,000 rounds of ammunition on the internet, and killing and shooting another 70 people in America." – Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, July 20

"[W]hat has to happen for Washington to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban which expired back in 2004?" – Brooke Baldwin to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D), 3 p.m. CNN Newsroom, July 20

"So why hasn't your party, the Democratic party done more to legislate guns?" – Brooke Baldwin to Nutter, 3 p.m. CNN Newsroom, July 20

"This is dating back to 1999, Littleton, Colorado, otherwise known as Columbine. 13 killed in a mass shooting. 2007, Virginia Tech, 32 killed. 2009, Fort Hood, Texas, 13 killed; 2012, Aurora, Colorado, 12 killed. Different circumstances, different people, but people look at this and say, can't we do anything to stop this?" – Candy Crowley, State of the Union, July 22

"Every time one of these things happens – Gabrielle Giffords last year, this shooting here -- there's an outrage, and then very quickly it dissipates. The American people quite quickly go back to their normal lives and they don't demand action in a way that I would expect them to. Why do so many Americans not feel angry enough to demand further gun control?" – Piers Morgan to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), Piers Morgan Tonight, July 23

"If the political leaders in this country continue to say nothing about this, gun sales increase at the rate they've been increasing, and we see more and more of these incidents, people will say, Mayor Bloomberg, it's time you ran for the highest office. It's time you took charge of this." – Piers Morgan to pro-gun control Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Piers Morgan Tonight, July 23

"I want to ban all assault rifles." – Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan Tonight, July 23

"But it's ultimately about conscience. It's about learning from our experiences, our country, these searing experiences and recognizing that we've done this before. Bill Clinton took on the NRA in 1994. We passed an assault weapons ban. It lapsed 10 years later. So there is an example of profiles in courage. This should not be an undiscovered country. It is about courage. It is about taking on some powerful interests. But sometimes that's necessary to have a rational debate that actually deals with the problem." – CNN contributor John Avlon, Erin Burnett OutFront, July 23

Ironically, both a CNN host and a CNN contributor expressed their distaste for the media hitting on the gun issue Friday morning. Howard Kurtz called out CNN and Piers Morgan by name for turning the atrocity into "ideological fodder."

"I feel so strongly about this – how about waiting a decent interval, maybe a day, until, you know, the families have had a time to absorb the shock, the victims have been identified. Why this rush to do it immediately?" Kurtz asked on his Sunday show Reliable Sources.

"But in terms of just overall sensitivity, where the nation's mood was, no I don't think it was the right time to bring up that conversation," CNN contributor L.Z. Granderson said of debating guns the very morning of the shooting, which is what Morgan did.

[CodeToad]

[QT3.14]

If you've checked CNN's viewership ratings lately you'll see that they're probably affecting about a hundred and thirteen viewers total.

Recent data released shows them with the worst ratings in 21 years.

And....

CNN drew an average of just 319,000 total viewers and 129,000 viewers
ages 25-54 in the second quarter. Ratings fell 35% among total viewers
and 41% in the key demo compared to the same time last year.
Primetime ratings also suffered big losses — 35% and 45% in those
audiences respectively.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

I want to ban all British marxist fops like Piers Morgan who wouldn’t know an assault weapon from his butt.

His treatment of John Lott on his show the other night was nothing less that despicable but then, again, that is the CNN standard for treatment of guests with differing views.

Just when you think that CNN cannot go any lower, they surprise you with their limitless rudeness, bias, and ignorance.

I think I’ll just stay with the “Autopsy Channel”.

[Cronos]

exactly. Let’s hope they go bankrupt soon...

[Cronos]

Gun violence has gone down since the end of the “assault” rifle ban.

do you have statistics for that? I'd like to quote them in my arguments against anti-gun folks.