Bob Costas (NBC) gives an anti-gun rant during Dallas/ Philadelphia football game

I'm a proud member of the NRA.....Those are the gun pumping lobbiest you are referring to. They fight for me to keep the 2nd ammedment to bear arms. Although I respect his right to an opinion I thought it was pretty tacky to put the blame on the gun? Really Bob? Don't blame the killer blame the weapon? I thought you were alot smarter than that. How bout the Wisconsin dude that went into class with a bow and arrow and shot the damn teacher? By Gosh that wasn't his fault was it Bob?...It was the bow and arrows fault. Lets ban them too!!

"captive football audience"

Did somebody steal your remote control?

No , like most fans I left the set at half time to do a few things and grab another Heineken's. When I returned the band was leaving the field and I was settling in for the second half and that's when Costa's started his rant ...  using his Sunday Night football's half-time segment as a plateform for an anti-gun lecture and using Jason Whitlock's article as an inspirarion..

Whitlock a KC columnist who claims that the NRA is the new group and accuse's the NRA of spreading drugs into the black community.

...And that they are arming black youths,and loading up his community (black) with drugs...He also accused the NRA of encouraging people to shoot those who play their music too loud....

 The real issue is Costas using this tragedy..and the actions of a deranged person to make a plea for gun control and then hidding behind Whitlock's article to push it during a NFL halftime show...making it to sound like Belcher was some kind of the victim ....

* Whitlock a KC columnist who claims that the NRA is the new group and accuse's the NRA of spreading drugs into the black community.

I don't agree with Bob Costas, but I'm glad our great nation has both the freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. Belcher used his freedom to shoot his wife and then himself in front of his coaches. Costas used his to shoot off his mouth and say something stupid. Not everybody uses freedom intelligently.

Probably no issue that deals in such extremes as gun control. Case in point is this situation.

I agree with Ulber in that Bob Costas had every right to use whatever forum as his pulpit. The problem is that this was not the best situation to make the argument. Other than complete prohibition against gun ownership, there was nothing about Belcher that would have prevented his acquisition of a firearm. And prohibition against ownership is not constitutional.

On the flip side, the gun rights lobby remain moiled in their own contradictions. They argue that the 2nd Amendment is abolutist whilst simultaenously dancing around questions about prohibitions against those that obviously shouldn't own (because where in the 2nd Amendment is there a limitation).

As is usually the case, the answer lies within the extremes, but nothing side advocating the extremist position does anything to further their causes or address the problem.

 Djbrow, no one is debating Costas' right to use his pulpit for whatever he want's to,but is it the right venue for him to force-fed his personal, political ..anti-gun propaganda message ...?

..and what he said in his closing statement makes him sound clueless of the reality and the situation involving Belcher...

"But here, wrote Jason Whitlock, is what I believe: “If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.” said Costas.

If, Jovan Belcher was enraged and deranged enough to want her dead ..the 6'4", 230 pound linebacker would have found some other way of killing her and she would not have been alive today ..

He would have better served to address the domestic violence side or mental health issues in this tragedy... or even black on black crime..than making it a political matter ..

It's now being reported that Belcher's mother heard arguing and then gunshots, police said,. ...Perkins was shot nine times. Belcher kissed Perkins on the forehead and apologized to her seconds after fatally shooting her. Belcher then reportedly apologized to his mother, kissed his 3-month daughter, and left his home...

"no one is debating Costas' right to use his pulpit for whatever he want's to,but is it the right venue for him to force-fed his personal, political ..anti-gun propaganda message ...?"

Yes, I think that Costas has earned the right to provide commentary on a network where his reporting and observation have served as a benchmark for quality. After all, it was his interview with Jerry Sandusky that led to the coach's undoing. Does this make Costas' point of view correct in this case? No. He clearly overstated the situation by blaming the deaths on guns.

Still, I defend Bob's right to get it wrong. But to read some of the posts here, you'd think Costas was guilty of a far greater crime than Belcher.  

Also, I reject the assertions that Costas was force-feeding his views to a captive audience. Turn the channel. Or shoot your TV...you know the cheap one, not the wide screen.

Nice. It is better than the hyper-nationalist military support that typically inundates professional sporting events, Military spending will be the demise of us all. Protecting us.........

From what? A  few dudes in caves in Afganistan? This spending is killing this nation faster than anything else.

Today Bob Costas tells sports radio host Dan Patrick his anti-gun remarks were a mistake because 90 seconds wasn't enough time for him to "flesh out" what he meant to say so he was completely understood.....

"So I think that my mistake there was that I left it open to too much interpretation" said Costas.

In other words he's saying the forum in which he made the comments was the wrong forum ( only because of the strong backlash )and not his attack on our 2nd Amendment rights..

Costas : "So I saw what Jason Whitlock had written and a portion of what he wrote resonated with me and given the time that I had, I thought that was on aspect that I could put out there and maybe, maybe I gave the audience too much credit, but I said if you're looking for perspective, a bit of it could be found".

Oh! I see...Because Costas didn't have enough time to spew more anti-gun propaganda ..the listening football fans are too stupid to understand his brillant insights..

He doesn't feel he was wrong to challenge our Second Amendment rights, he was just wrong to do it in the alloted time frame....and isn't that what all most of us in this thread have been saying all along..wrong forum ..

But, it still leaves us with this statement :

“If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”

..to Costas' way of thinking the Navy Seals didn't kill Bin laden the guns did ...

UberDog,

Here's what Costas said to Patrick :

"Dan. A friend of mine in broadcasting pointed this out to me yesterday, and I agree with him. He said, ‘You violated your own rule.’ Because we have had this discussion before. I’ve always said, if you’re going to get into touchy topics, nuanced topics, make sure that you have enough time to flesh them out, that you have enough time to make yourself fully understood, or save them for forums where you do.

Is Costas not saying he agrees with his friend,that his 90sec.segment was not the right forum ? 

Slim--I think he's simply saying that he didn't give himself enough time. 

I agree with him when he told Patrick that most of those who are saying the half-time show was the wrong forum are the people who disagree with what he said. I'm sure people who agree with his anti-gun message felt it was okay to make the statement there. I suppose I'm the exception to the rule. I disagree with him on the anti-gun message. He got it tally wrong.  But I'm fine with him giving that point of view during his segment in the half-time show. Look, it was a disturbing, heart-wrenching story that plays into a very emotional hot-button issue. There are going to be differences of opinions that aren't well thought out. 

If there's a "forum" issue, it's this. His mistake was airing that anti-gun message in a forum --Sunday night football--where most of the audience disagrees with him. That's never a good idea for a person who's broadcast bread and butter is being a cute, non-offensive shill.