So here’s a big surprise that probably warrants a ticker tape parade or even a national holiday. Bill O’Reilly actually said something that made sense. Well, let’s rephrase that: Bill O’Reilly actually said something that most Liberals have been saying for a long time. That would be, that there is a need for an expansion of gun control laws.
Here’s what he said on his show this week:
Now, the right wing responsibility. There is too much gun crime in the USA, and high powered weaponry is too easy to get. That’s the fact. So let’s deal with it. We all have the right to bear arms, but we don’t have the right to buy and maintain mortars. Even if you feel threatened by gangsters or a New World Order. No bazookas, no Sherman tanks, no hand grenades. That’s because the Second Amendment clearly states the government has a right to regulate militias, made up of individuals. They have that right in the name of public safety.
Therefore, Congress should debate what kind of weapons should be available for public sale. And the states, the individual states should decide what kind of carry laws are good for their own people. New laws are definitely needed in the age of terrorism and mass murder. The FBI and other federal agencies need the power to stop suspected terrorists or other evil doers from buying weapons.
That law needs to be very precise. Also, gun dealers all across America should be required to report the sale of certain kinds of guns, heavy weapons, directly to the FBI. Not handguns, not talking about that, but other weapons that would be defined by Congress. That is a sane approach, and would make it a lot tougher for the Omar Mateens of the world to get the weaponry to kill, although as Talking Points has stated many, many times, no society will ever stop all gun crimes, especially in a country which has hundreds of millions of guns already in circulation.
So now I’m wondering, what in the world got into him? O’Reilly made an argument for stronger gun laws that’s antithetical to anything any FOX News host not named Shepherd Smith has ever said, ever. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that O’Reilly’s soul was possessed by a Liberal demon for a few minutes. But then I have to remind myself that the Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, was indeed a brown-skinned man who practiced Islam. And of course, nothing scares “whitey” like someone with alleged ties to ISIS who isn’t adverse to yelling, “Allahu Akbar!” Yep, especially since O’Reilly wasn’t supportive of similar gun control laws in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting in 2012.
I’m not sure if any of my right-wing friends were listening to O’Reilly; or even if they would agree with him. After all, a majority of Americans polled are of the opinion that there is a need for new common sense gun control laws. However, the problem is that opponents of legislation to expand background checks to include internet sales, close the gun show loophole, and regulate the sale of certain weapons of war themselves lack common sense. And in so doing, they hide behind the Second Amendment even though the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed government’s ability to regulate gun ownership in 2009. Yep, no need to introduce facts.
If Omar Mateen walked into a police station and killed 49 cops with an AR-15 we’d have new gun laws by the next day. A movie theater, an elementary school, or a gay nightclub on the other hand? Well, thankfully, Bill O’Reilly had a moment of clarity so Senate Republicans will as well.
Watch full segment below: