60 Minutes: “Gun Rush”
This post will be in the same style as my last post on 20/20. I sat down tonight with my Tivo to watch and report on the CBS 60 Minutes segment “Gun Rush.” This program explores the current run on guns, rather than the 20/20 piece with was primarily a hit piece on gun owners and bearing firearms. Times are in minutes from the start of 60 Minutes. This segment began at 0:20 according to my Tivo. This piece was more information-dense than the 20/20 piece, with a lot more dialogue. Or perhaps it was just more meaningful dialog. As before, detailed notes are after the break.
- 0:20 – Intro with Leslie Stahl shown in front of this segment’s magazine cover. “Gun Rush” is printed behind a set of crosshairs in red against a white background. Silhouettes of semi-automatic firearms are shown surrounding the crosshairs. Several pistols, an AK and an AR are shown in silhouette. Stahl mentions the 8 shooting sprees and says they may be tied to the recession. She speculates that the recent increase in gun sales may also be tied to the recession, and mentions that Smith and Wesson stock has quadrupled in recent months despite hard economic conditions for most companies.
- 0:21 – Shots of a gun show in Richmond, VA. Stahl states in narration that the line is around the building, and from the footage that appears to be accurate. I don’t know if this is the same show that ABC attended, but it looks like it could be. Cut to Stahl with Philip Van Cleave, head of the Virginia Citizens Defense League[1]. She asks him how many guns would normally be sold at a show this size (and it appears to be a fairly large show). He responds: “Probably thousands.”
- 0:22 – Stahl in narration: The gun show is “part arms bazaar, part Antiques Roadshow.” Shots of all sorts of guns are shown; antiques, rifles with wood on them, lever actions, etc. are in evidence. No semi-auto PSH. . . so far. Shots of Nazi memorabilia and pennants are interspersed with the other firearms as Stahl mentions a certain disreputable element. Van Cleave points out pink guns and other cute gunnie items. Stahl mentions that FBI background checks are up more than 30% since this time last year, and there are shots of normal-looking gun owners filling out 4473s.
- 0:23 – Van Cleave mentions recent price increases. At this point my CBS feed cut out and I lost ~5 seconds of info.
- 0:23 – A clip of a gun show commercial is shown which says, “Get your guns while you still can.” Stahl, in narration, states that this is code for “Obama wants to take your guns” and reinstate a new Assault Weapons Ban. It may be, but only because it’s true.
- 0:24 – Stahl mentions a possible ammunition tax increase and the national ammo shortage as a result of stockpiling by firearm owners. She asks Van Cleave if he thinks the gun lobby is responsible for these fears. Van Cleave replies: “I don’t think so. I think the elections took care of that themselves.” In narration, Stahl mentions the Gun Show Loophole fallacy. Unlike ABC, she states that private sales are legal anywhere in Virginia, and that gun shows are not unique in this regard.
- 0:25 – Retired VA police officer[2] Gerald Masingale is shown in the gun show parking lot with Leslie Stahl. He points out that there are license plates present from all over the east coast. Stahl, in narration: Virginia is a “main source” of crime guns in northern states with tighter gun laws. The Gun Show Loophole gets another mention.
- 0:26 – Stahl states that new restrictions on firearms have been difficult to pass in VA (thanks VCDL!) and that a bill to ban the private sales of firearms (to the media “close the gun show loophole”) did not pass even after the VA Tech Massacre. It is implied here that Cho got his weapon from a gun show, which is not correct.
- Stahl to Van Cleave: “Who not make it uniform and have everybody go through the background check?” Van Cleave: “Why not make it uniform and have no one go through the background check?”
- 0:27 – Omar Samaha from the 20/20 special appears and says that he bought “a dozen” weapons at a gun show without showing ID. He states that when prompted for ID, he refused, and that one seller asked him for an extra $15 to take a risk on selling a gun to someone without ID. Friday it was 10 guns and $100. Which is it Omar? Stahl brings out the big guns: “Cho didn’t get the guns from a gun show and he did show ID and go through a background check.” Oh snap!
- 0:28 – Van Cleave points out that an armed student could have stopped the VA Tech shooter. He also points out that as soon as police arrived and presented armed resistance, Cho committed suicide. This is a common theme among active shooters.
- Stahl, in response to Van Cleave’s assertions about armed students: “Arming all those young people. . . (trails off)” Van Cleave: “I wonder who’s fighting for us in Iraq right now.”
- 0:28 – Stahl points out that the bill to close the “gun show loophole” failed in the VA Senate by 2 votes. She refers to this as a victory for “gun rights forces.”
- 0:29 – In conversation with a victim of the VA Tech shooting, now an anti-gun activist, LilyHabtu, Stahl points out that even with the shooting, the student and parent backlash, the Governor, and police chiefs on their side the anti-gun lobby was unable to pass a bill to ban private firearm sales. Habtu responds: “The gun lobby must have a strong base in VA.” Habtu would like the national legislature to pass a similar bill now that the Democrats have a majority in both houses.
- 0:30 – Stahl points out that the AWB expired in 2004. There’s footage of several tables full of semi-automatic rifles at the gun show and of the aftermath of recent shootings.
- 0:31 – Stahl interviews Diane Feinstein. Feinstein states that these weapons (semi-autos) are made to kill in close combat. (false) Feinstein states that these are the weapons of choice for gangs (false), drug cartels (false), and the mentally ill (I guess I’m mentally ill? No, never mind, this one is false, too).
- 0:32 – Dick Durban on the Senate Floor says that “sensible gun control” is “too big of a hassle” to try to debate these days. Stahl points out that after the original AWB passed in 1994 Republicans took control of both houses of Congress for the next 12 years, and that the NRA got a lot of credit for those wins.
Stahl to Van Cleave: “Don’t you think there has been a shift in this country?”
Van Cleave:”Yes, towards guns.”
Stahl: “Towards Democrats.”
Van Cleave: “Democrats are not anti-gun.” He points out that not all Republicans are friends of firearm owners, either.
- 0:32 – Stahl mentions the 65 Democrat Representatives that signed a letter to Eric Holder stating that they would vote “no” on a new “Assault Weapons Ban.” Says Feinstein: “The NRA essentially has a stranglehold on Congress.” She also says that no one in the legislative leadership has asked her to “back off” on gun legislation or control.
- 0:33 – Footage of Obama at the White House. Stahl: Obama has been called the “great gun grabber” by pro-gun advocates. She mentions the AWB promise on his website and the fact that he hasn’t been pushing for it. Stahl says to Feinstein that it would be a bad idea to push for a new AWB with the economic crisis, the war, and other happenings in the world. Feinstein says, “I agree, I wouldn’t bring it up now.” Stahl asks her, “So you’re going to hold off?” Feinstein replies, “That’s correct, I’ll pick the time and the place, no question about that.” Same old Di-Fi, eh?
- 0:34 – Stahl is back in front of the magazine cover for this story. She cites the recent Gallup Poll results indicating that support for gun control is at an all-time low, saying that support for restrictions is “eroding.”
- End of Segment
Overall this was a much more balanced program than the 20/20 show. It still reeks of bias, but Van Cleave held his own and made us all look good. It’d be nice if they had done some investigating to catch their other guests in their blatant lies, but I’ll take what I can get from CBS. They did mention the background check process, and Stahl herself got in a good point against the antis.
TXGunGeek and Sebastian have more coverage of the show.
Van Cleave makes an excellent point that the last thing we need to do right now in the gun rights crowd is attack our Democrat members and supporters. Painting all Democrats with the broad brush of “gun grabber” does no good to anyone. We need everyone to understand that the right to keep and bear arms is a right that we are all responsible for defending, and attacking every Democrat just for belonging to a political party without understanding their individual views is damaging to our cause.
Also, if you join only one gun rights organization, join the NRA. But if you join two, I cannot recommend highly enough joining your local organization. Find the guys that are doing the most good for you at a local level, and join. Help them out at shows. Help them lobby your legislators. You can see in this piece the effect that VCDL is having in Virginia. I am a member of AzCDL and the ASRPA, and there are several other state-level organizations linked at right. These are the guys helping to keep us free.
- Who was shown briefly in the ABC piece but not identified. He gets much more face time and recognition in this piece. [↩]
- Stahl identifies him as a lieutenant but I found another source that refers to him as a colonel, so I’ll go with “officer” [↩]