Throughout the day on Tuesday, while covering the New York City subway shooting live at the scene, MSNBC anchor Katy Tur repeatedly pushed the Biden administration’s gun control agenda. However, she warned against “reactionary measures” like increasing police presence across the nation’s largest city amid a crime wave.
“Frankly, and there are so many guns on the street right now….In fact, we saw yesterday, President Biden hold a news conference on ghost guns because gun violence is on the rise and there’s concerns about trying to control it, get out ahead of even worse violence with these unregistered guns that you can build at home,”Tur declared in the 11:01 a.m. ET hour, trying to connect the attack in New York to Biden’s left-wing agenda.
At 12:00 p.m. ET, Andrea Mitchell was eager to dive into the politics of the shooting: “Talk to me about…the politics of this shooting. ET hour, fellow anchor Andrea Mitchell was eager to delve into the politics of the shooting right away: “Talk to me about…the politics of this, frankly. Because just yesterday you had the President of the United States doing, you know, an event about ghost guns, an executive order, under pressure to do something about guns.”
Tur was happy to oblige, and launched into an anti-gun rant which could have been written in the White House Communications team.
This news conference was held by the President in my hour yesterday at 2:30 AM., and he was trying – is trying to appoint a new leader of the ATF. The Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm agency hasn’t had a permanent leader in many years. Ghost guns are weapons that can be purchased kits. They don’t ask you for your ID, they don’t ask you what you want to do with it. Anybody can get it. If you are somebody that wouldn’t pass a background check, doesn’t matter, you can get a ghost gun. So there’s concern about the rise in violence with those loopholes being exploited.
Speaking with leftists New York City public advocate Jumaane WilliamsAt 2:00 p.m. Tur called Bill de Blasio, a former mayor of New York City and shared his fear with Williams. “And he was worried that the reaction to this event was going to make a renewed focus on law enforcement. And if fact, Mayor Adams has already said that he’s going to be adding law enforcement officers to the subway system.”
Tur continued to make the case against increased police funding to get more officers in New York’s sprawling subway system to protect riders:
His [Williams]Argument was made that this was fundamentally more important than that It is essential that more money be spent on preventing gun violence. Obviously, we don’t know about the motive here and so we’re talking in theoreticals at the moment. The problem is that Albany does not take it as seriously as it ought to. Being able to get guns off the streets in the first place is better than taking reactionary steps after such an incident.
At 3:00 pm. ET hour, after retired ATF agent Jim Cavanaugh speculated without evidence that the gun used in the attack “could even be a replica of a Glock, a ghost gun,” Tur seized on the fact-free notion: “You talk about a ghost gun. Again, we don’t know if it is, but you know, that’s one of the things that President Biden was trying to address yesterday by mandating that these ghost guns have serial numbers attached to them so that they can be traced.”
According to Tur, efforts to restrict the Second Amendment rights of lawful gun owners are actually preferable to “reactionary measures” like putting more police on the streets to protect citizens.
Tur’s attempt to use the subway shooting to advance the Biden agenda was brought to viewers by Pfizer and TD Ameritrade. This is your chance to protest the sponsors of such content.
This transcript contains excerpts of the April 12 coverage.
MSNBC Reports
11:00 AM ET(…)
KATY Tur: Honestly, there are too many guns out on the streets right now. This has been a major issue for Eric Adams, Eric Adams, who is the new mayor. He said he’s going to try to tackle it, there’s been a spate of gun violence in the city. In fact, we saw yesterday, President Biden hold a news conference on ghost guns because gun violence is on the rise and there’s concerns about trying to control it, get out ahead of even worse violence with these unregistered guns that you can build at home.
(…)
Andrea Mitchell Reports
12:27 ET(…)
ANDREA MITCHELL: And Katy, I just want to make another point with you because the governor was so passionate about, “This must end.” You know, just had the terrible shooting of the 13-year-old girl. Just the New York City crime wave. Discuss that with me and talk about politics. You saw the US President, just yesterday, at an event on ghost guns. He signed an executive order to address gun violence.
And now you’ve got this and the mayor – the governor, rather, who is running for re-election of course, having taken office under those circumstances with Andrew Cuomo stepping down and she now is going to run for office for the first time as governor herself to hold that position. She clearly wants to emphasize that everyone is going to be together, that all agencies and New Yorkers will come together to fight the crime wave.
TUR. Yes. And the lieutenant Governor was just detained today. She was also briefly asked about this. The President held this news conference in the hour of my show yesterday, around 2:30 yesterday, and he was trying – is trying to appoint a new leader of the ATF. The Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm agency hasn’t had a permanent leader in many years. The man was speaking about ghost guns. These are guns you can get kits for online. They don’t ask you for your ID, they don’t ask you what you want to do with it. Anybody can get it. If you are somebody that wouldn’t pass a background check, doesn’t matter, you can get a ghost gun. So there’s concern about the rise in violence with those loopholes being exploited.
Here in New York City there’s been a concerning rise in gun violence over the past couple years during the pandemic. Mayor Adams ran for the office of mayor in this city. His platform included reducing crime and preventing gun violence.
(…)
Katy Tur Reports
2.52 PM ET(…)
JUMAANE WILLIAMS [NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE]It is a national emergency and New York follows. And so we have an opportunity to get this right and so far we’re not.
TUR: This was part of an interview that I conducted a few minutes ago with Jumaane Williams, New York City’s public advocate. Bill de Blasio, the ex-mayor of New York City is joining me. We are very grateful for your presence, Mr. Mayor.
Another part of my conversation with Jumaane was about funding, and how it would affect the response to the event. His concern was that this would lead to a renewed emphasis on law enforcement. And if fact, Mayor Adams has already said that he’s going to be adding law enforcement officers to the subway system.
His [Williams]Argument was that the prevention of gun violence needed more funding. Obviously, we don’t know about the motive here and so we’re talking in theoreticals at the moment. The Albany doesn’t take the root issue as seriously as it ought to and isn’t allocating funding towards getting guns off of the streets in the first instance, instead of the reactive measures taken after events like this. Your thoughts?
(…)
Hallie Jackson Reports
3.45 PM ET(…)
JIM CAVANAUGH [RETIRED ATF SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE]: And then, of course, he leaves a forensics New Year’s Eve party in the bag – hair, finger prints, DNA and a Glock pistol that ATF has probably already traced. Sometimes, even at a large event, the gun can trace back right to the murderer, as in the Son of Sam case. The gun was traced to the Son of Sam. So there’s no where a gun – you know, it may not be traced. You could find it stolen, or it may be trafficked. This could be an imitation of Glock or even a ghost firearm. So there’s many scenarios. But if it’s had a serial number, ATF’s already placed an urgent trace and they have an identity and agents are around the country looking at that. I think before the dawn hits, we’re gonna know who this guy is and the police may already have him, trust me.
TUR. You are talking about a ghost pistol. Again, we don’t know if it is, but you know, that’s one of the things that President Biden was trying to address yesterday by mandating that these ghost guns have serial numbers attached to them so that they can be traced.
(…)
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