NBC Skips Big Win for Second Amendment, Hypes Bigfoot Reality Show Instead

Both ABC's Good Morning America and CBS This Morning on Tuesday covered a big win for the Second Amendment in the courts. NBC's Today couldn't make time for the ruling by a federal judge that struck down Chicago's ban on retail gun sales. Instead, the morning show devoted almost five minutes to a new reality show about the Bigfoot monster.

Good Morning America's Josh Elliott explained, "A federal judge has struck down Chicago's ban on gun sales, calling it unconstitutional...Chicago's murder rate was the highest in the nation last year." [MP3 audio here [1].] Over on This Morning, Charlie Rose informed viewers that "[U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang] says banning the sale of firearms in Chicago is unconstitutional. He's not convinced it helps with gun violence."

This Morning only allowed 14 seconds to the topic. GMA managed a scant 17 seconds. But the two networks combined  total of 31 seconds was still more than Today's complete blackout. (The previous evening's NBC Nightly News also ignored the decision.)

Instead, Today offered almost five minutes of air time to promote Dean Cain's new show, the 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty. [2]

Regarding the gun decision, the Chicago Tribune explained [3]:

Chicago, the last city to allow residents to have handguns in their homes, once had one of the strongest handgun crackdowns in the country, making it a primary target of the National Rifle Association.

Overturning the ban on retail gun stores and private gun sales was the last major hurdle gun rights groups faced in their hard-fought battle to dismantle Chicago's tough firearm prohibitions.

The latest court ruling in the long legal fight came one day after Illinois, the last state to approve a concealed carry law, began accepting applications from residents who want to carry concealed firearms in public.

In February of 201 [4]3 [4], NBC and ABC used the blood-soaked Chicago's high murder rate to promote more gun control (while ignoring the city's already tight restrictions).

Victories for gun rights are not popular topics for the networks. On June 27, 2008 [5], the networks allowed a puny three and a half minutes for the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment is an individual right. That's three and a half minutes out of eight possible hours of programming.

A transcript of the ABC and CBS news briefs can be found below:

GMA

7:12

JOSH ELLIOTT: We begin with a key ruling in the debate over gun control. A federal judge has struck down Chicago's ban on gun sales, calling it unconstitutional. The ruling will not take effect right away so that the city can, in fact, appeal. Chicago's murder rate was the highest in the nation last year.

CBS This Morning

7:17

CHARLIE ROSE: The Chicago Tribune says a federal judge stripped away a key part of the city's gun law. He says banning the sale of firearms in Chicago is unconstitutional. He's not convinced it helps with gun violence. But he put the ruling on hold while the city decides on a challenge.