MSNBC's O'Donnell Blames Shooting Deaths on 'Cowardly Lawmakers' Opposing Gun Control
On Thursday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, host O'Donnell ranted against Republicans who have argued that the proposed new gun laws would not have prevented recent high-profile shootings, as the MSNBC host referred to such talk as "the worst, most vicious lie being told by Republicans."
Referring to nine-year-old shooting victim Christina Taylor Green, who died in the Tucson, Arizona, mass shooting that targeted former Rep. Gabby Giffords, O'Donnell absurdly claimed that she "was safe" when magazine clips of more than 10 rounds used to be illegal, and asserted that "cowardly lawmakers' indifference to her right to life" was the reason she was killed. O'Donnell:
You can blame the shooter for the first 10 bullets; you have the law and lawmakers to blame for every bullet fired after that. Magazines larger than 10 rounds used to be illegal in this country. Christina Taylor Green was safe then. She is dead now because of cowardly lawmakers' indifference to her right to life.
He added:
The mass murders in Newtown, Connecticut, and Aurora, Colorado, and Tucson, Arizona, were all made much more murderous thanks to the members of Congress and lawmakers around the country who have done everything that they can to make sure that when our mass murderers enter a movie theater or a shopping mall or an elementary school, they will be able to go in there with high-capacity magazines.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Thursday, April 11, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC:
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: The worst, most vicious lie being told by Republicans is this one:
RUSH LIMBAUGH: None of what's been proposed would have stopped it, by the way.
FNC's ERIC BOLLING: Nothing that's proposed would prevent another Newtown, another Aurora, Colorado.
SEAN HANNITY, FROM FNC'S HANNITY: If you look at Aurora and you look at Newtown, there's nothing that's been proposed here, not a single thing that would have prevented the tragedy.
O'DONNELL: If the shooter in Tucson, Arizona, had been limited to a magazine with 10 bullets, Christina Taylor Green would be alive today. Christina Taylor Green's life ended that day at age nine when she was shot after the 12th bullet had been fired from a magazine holding 33 bullets. That shooter was stopped only when he had to change magazines.
You can blame the shooter for the first 10 bullets; you have the law and lawmakers to blame for every bullet fired after that. Magazines larger than 10 rounds used to be illegal in this country. Christina Taylor Green was safe then. She is dead now because of cowardly lawmakers' indifference to her right to life.
The mass murders in Newtown, Connecticut, and Aurora, Colorado, and Tucson, Arizona, were all made much more murderous thanks to the members of Congress and lawmakers around the country who have done everything that they can to make sure that when our mass murderers enter a movie theater or a shopping mall or an elementary school, they will be able to go in there with high-capacity magazines.
-- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center
