One month after the Newtown shooting, CNN "commemorated" the atrocity
by hosting a string of gun control activists and Democratic politicians
pushing for stricter gun laws.
From the 5 a.m. through the 3 p.m. news hours on Monday, CNN hosted five [1] guests [2] who [3] had [4] participated [5]
in the "Demand a Plan" campaign put on by the anti-gun group Mayors
Against Illegal Guns. In addition, two Democratic congressmen and one
Democratic senator appeared on the network and pushed for more gun laws.
Only one Republican made an appearance to argue to the contrary.
Of
the five CNN guests participating in the "Demand a Plan" campaign,
three of them also worked for gun control advocacy organizations.
Stephen Barton is a policy and outreach assistant at Mayors Against
Illegal Guns. Colin Goddard works for the Brady Campaign Against Gun
Violence. Lori Haas works for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
"We have to do something in this country, we have to do something now,
and I think every gun should have a background check. And I also don't
believe that people should own military-style assault style weapons. I
just don't think they're necessary for hunting," guest Roxanna Green
told CNN.
She added that for the Obama administration not to pursue an assault
weapons ban would be a " huge mistake." Stephen Barton told CNN that,
"the bottom line is that we need to have background checks for every gun
sale in this country."
The three Democratic politicians who appeared on CNN were Sen. Chris
Murphy (Conn.), Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), and Rep. Jackie Speier
(Calif.). The lone Republican face was former Congressman Connie Mack
IV.
As NewsBusters reported [6]
earlier, Congressman Schiff got a soft interview from Carol Costello
where he was able to tout proposed legislation that would open up more
lawsuits against the gun industry by victims of gun violence.
Rep. Speier pushed for more background checks:
"The fact that our background check does not even address 40 percent of the guns that are purchased in this country a year is just unexplainable. And we've got to take steps to make sure we close those loopholes, make sure the dealers, in fact, aren't selling guns that become crime guns. And that if they do, that they have to pay penalties."