MSNBC Anchor Makes Stupidest Gun Claim Yet
When I need advice on how to look both smug and yet human cadaver-like on TV, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell would probably be one of the people I would turn to first. If I needed advice on how to make my hair look like a 1950s Brylcreem advert or find out the exact level of Aaron Sorkin’s polypharmacy during script-writing sessions for “The West Wing,” he’s my guy.
Facts about firearms? Probably not so much.
Yet, like most Americans with a platform and strong feelings on gun control, the longtime host of “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” has an opinion.
Sure, it might not be informed, even if it involves facts. But that isn’t going to stop him from sharing it with America. The only difference is, unlike your vegan aunt from Portland, O’Donnell has a) a national platform and b) is paid to do it.
On his Thursday show, O’Donnell said that “a bullet fired from an AR-15 travels 3x faster than one from a handgun … and yet the president and the NRA think giving teachers guns will stop a school shooter.”
Not only did he think this brilliant fact was worth sharing with his audience, he (or his staff) deigned it worth repeating on Twitter.
Lawrence: A bullet fired from an AR-15 travels 3x faster than one from a handgun.
And yet the president and the NRA think giving teachers guns will stop a school shooter https://t.co/heze69kRDU
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 23, 2018
Larry wasn’t the only MSNBCer who was putting forward this theory, either.
Samantha Ruhle — ostensibly one of the network’s “objective” news anchors (as opposed to their pundits’ gallery) tweeted it, too.
Also remember that Reagan was surrounded by the secret service in 1981…yet, he was shot.
How will teachers with guns protect students?
How does the best marksman in the world with a handgun take down a shooter with an AR-15 (bullets travel 3x faster) https://t.co/SRgoIaqnTl— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) February 23, 2018
Apparently, MSNBC (or some of its dimmer employees) believes guns work like a Nintendo game, where you can just jump over bullets if they’re fired too slowly. In other words, to their trained eyes, gun physics are closely akin to “Contra” for the Nintendo.
“While bullets fired from rifles do travel faster than those fired by handguns, the difference comes down to a matter of milliseconds, which would be negligible in any confrontation with a shooter,” The Daily Caller’s Amber Athey noted.
“In close range situations, the difference in bullet velocity matters even less.”
In close range situations, the type of gun used matters little. In fact, one could posit an advantage for handguns, which are smaller and easier to use than rifles are.
In any event, whatever bullet speed advantage the AR-15 has is completely negated by the fact that any exchange will have ended in milliseconds.
O’Donnell’s complaint was the latest semi-fact in a liberal backlash against President Donald Trump’s plans to arm teachers trained in concealed carry — a tentative proposal which is almost always euphemistically referred to as “giving teachers guns,” because apparently the nuance these individuals apply to the Second Amendment or to facts about firearms is also applied to matters of public policy.
Now, does he know what he’s saying is the stupidest gun claim we’ve heard from the left yet? Probably. That’s never stopped him before, though — so why should he start paying attention to the facts now?
Please like and share on Facebook and Twitter if you think your O’Donnell could stand to learn thing or two about firearms.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
