Wallace complained during the show’s first segment that the arguments “on the other side” – meaning those against gun control – had become “repugnant,” whereas before they'd been “civilized.” Implicit in this remark was the assumption that the position of Republicans and pro-Second Amendment individuals has changed somehow.
But as Stephens would go on to point out, the argument in favor of the right to bear arms is the same today as it was twenty years ago: it’s in the Constitution. In an appreciable but disturbing moment of honesty, Stephens struck at the core issue of that argument, and questioned whether owning firearms really ought to be a right at all:
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Of course, no MSNBC show would be complete without some sort of Russia-related non-sequitur. Thursday’s installment was provided courtesy of former CIA Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi, who claimed the NRA was taking money from Russia. He went on to allege that most of the people who expressed concern about mental health after the Florida high school shooting were Russian Twitter bots:
MSNBC Is Sick of the 'So-Called Right' to Bear Arms
But as Stephens would go on to point out, the argument in favor of the right to bear arms is the same today as it was twenty years ago: it’s in the Constitution. In an appreciable but disturbing moment of honesty, Stephens struck at the core issue of that argument, and questioned whether owning firearms really ought to be a right at all:
There is something kind of aggressively and inhumanly repetitive about this line that guns are essential to American liberties – a hard one to stomach when so many thousands of people are dying every year for this so-called ‘liberty.’
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Of course, no MSNBC show would be complete without some sort of Russia-related non-sequitur. Thursday’s installment was provided courtesy of former CIA Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi, who claimed the NRA was taking money from Russia. He went on to allege that most of the people who expressed concern about mental health after the Florida high school shooting were Russian Twitter bots:
They’re taking money from Russia. They’re sitting back while Russian bots come out after the Parkland shooting, telling us that, “It’s all about mental health, they’re going to take their guns away.” They’re saying nothing. It’s time to wonder whether the NRA is for us or against us.
MSNBC Is Sick of the 'So-Called Right' to Bear Arms