NBC's Isikoff Suggests 'Powerful NRA' Makes It Harder to Protect Theaters
On Saturday's Today show, as NBC correspondent Michael Isikoff - formerly of Newsweek - filed a report on the drive to make people safer at movie theaters after the Aurora massacre, he concluded his report by suggesting that, because "the powerful National Rifle Association has blocked any move for stricter gun laws," people will have to settle for "beefed-up security and greater vigilance," as if the NRA were preventing people from being safer.
Toward the end of the report, Isikoff relayed the complaint of gun control activists that it is too easy to obtain certain types of guns. Isikoff:
Nationally, there have been about 60 multiple shootings in the past 18 months. A recurring theme, say gun control activists, is the ability of the shooters to obtain high-powered weapons, such as the AR-15 assault rifle and Glock pistols used by alleged Aurora shooter James Holmes.
Then came a clip of Dennis Henigan, vice president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence:
The common denominator for all these tragedies is that at dangerous person had all too easy access to a gun that can deliver this kind of carnage in seconds.
Unlike other reports aired on the broadcast networks on Saturday, Isikoff made no effort to include any argument against additional gun laws, but he did take a swipe at the NRA in his conclusion as he hinted that movie goers would be safer if not for the efforts of the pro-gun group:
But the powerful National Rifle Association has blocked any move for stricter gun laws, meaning that, for now, beefed-up security and greater vigilance may be the best protection against horrific attacks like the one in Aurora.
Below is a complete transcript of the report from the Saturday, July 21, Today show on NBC:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: This community of Aurora, Colorado, is reeling after Friday's deadly shooting at this movie theater. It is just the latest example of innocent people being put in harm's way in a place they had considered safe. And it has a lot of people wondering today: Is there really any way to protect the public when a gunman comes on a mission? More now from NBC's Michael Isikoff.
MICHAEL ISIKOFF: In movie theaters across the country this weekend, police step up security at showings of the new Batman movie to reassure anxious patrons.
RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: The New York City Police Department is covering all 40 locations in New York City with police officers that are showing The Dark Knight Rises.
ISIKOFF: The Aurora shooting has shocked Batman fans.
DEIRDRE FLANAGAN: It's kind of scary because, just knowing that, like, all those innocent people have been, like, injured or, like, killed.
ISIKOFF: But they're still lining up.
MICHAEL GREENMAN: Probably looking out a little bit, but I think that's just natural after hearing news like this anywhere.
ISIKOFF: A national theaters group is talking to local and federal officials about ways to beef up security. That a movie theater has become the scene for a random massing shooting is unnerving security experts. They've long been worried that so-called soft targets like this are virtually impossible to protect. What are soft targets? A Tucson shopping mall where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, and six others killed by a deranged gunman. A church school in Oakland where seven people were killed by a former student. A soccer field near Wilmingston, Delaware, where, just this month, three fans were killed and two wounded.
Nationally, there have been about 60 multiple shootings in the past 18 months. A recurring theme, say gun control activists, is the ability of the shooters to obtain high-powered weapons, such as the AR-15 assault rifle and Glock pistols used by alleged Aurora shooter James Holmes.
DENNIS HENIGAN, BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: The common denominator for all these tragedies is that a dangerous person had far too easy access to a gun that can deliver this kind of carnage in seconds.
ISIKIOFF: But the powerful National Rifle Association has blocked any move for stricter gun laws, meaning that, for now, beefed-up security and greater vigilance may be the best protection against horrific attacks like the one in Aurora. For Today, Michael Isikoff, NBC News, Washington.
-Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center
