Katie Couric: ‘Specious Argument’ to Say Armed Good
Guys Stop Bad Guys
by AWR Hawkins 15 May 2016
During a May 13 appearance on NBC’s
Today, Katie Couric said the
claim that armed good guys stop bad guys is “just a specious argument.”
The journalist-turned-filmmaker was on the Today show to
promote her upcoming gun control documentary,
Under the Gun.
“There’s a very common expression out there that says the
only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Today
host Matt Lauer prompted Couric. Lauer then used an anecdotal example of a
concealed carry permit holder who was unarmed during the July 2012 Aurora
theater attack and who believes that being armed would not have made any
difference.
This particular concealed permit holder was dating Jessi
Phillips, a 21-year-old woman killed in the Aurora attack. The concealed
permit holder was interviewed for Couric’s documentary.
I thought that was one of the most impactful moments of
the film. One of the first things they asked him, because he had a concealed
carry permit but because he traveled from Texas to Colorado to visit Jessi he
didn’t have his gun. One of the first things they asked is, “Would it have made
any difference if you had had your gun?” He said, “Absolutely not.” There was
so much chaos, they were trapped, more innocent people would have died.
Couric added that the so-called “good guy with a gun
argument” is “perpetrated by the gun lobby, but most public health experts and gun safety experts say it’s just a specious argument.”
In other words, the effectiveness of armed citizens rests
on the testimony of one concealed permit holder who does not believe being
armed could have helped at Aurora. By seizing on this example, Couric
overlooked the concealed permit holder who used his gun on
June 19, 2015, to stop an attempted mass shooting in Chicago. She also ignored
the concealed permit holder who stopped an attempted mass shooting in Ohio on
July 26, 2015, the permit holder who stopped an attempted mass shooting in a Georgia liquor store
on May 31, 2015, and the permit holder who ran toward the sound of gunfire and stopped an attempted mass
shooting in a Philadelphia barbershop on March 22, 2015.
Couric’s approach also overlooks the good guy with a gun
who ended the October 22, 2014,
terror attack in Ottawa, Canada and the good guy with a gun who stopped the knife-welding attacker in
a Taunton, Massachusetts mall on May 10, 2015–not to mention the myriad
examples of good guys with guns who defend their families from multiple home
invaders on a regular basis in the U.S.
Couric told Lauer during the same interview that a
“silent majority” of gun owners want
more gun control.
Couric’s documentary, Under the Gun, premieres
Sunday, May 15 on Epix.
Katie Couric
Katie
Couric is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), a
co-founder & advisory council member for the Stand up to Cancer, and a director at the Harlem Village Academies.
Note: Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think
tank), the Harlem Children's Zone,
the Robin Hood Foundation, the Sundance Institute, and Human Rights First.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a
benefactor for the Harlem Children's
Zone, and William D. Zabel was
his divorce lawyer.
Bloomberg
Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Michael R.
Bloomberg is the founder of the Bloomberg
Family Foundation, a donor for Stand
up to Cancer, Emma Bloomberg’s
father, the founder of Everytown for Gun
Safety, a co-chair for Mayors
Against Illegal Guns, the founder of Independence
USA PAC, was a contributor for the Americans
for Responsible Solutions, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and a donor for the Robin Hood Foundation.
Everytown
for Gun Safety is a “Gun Safety, Gun
Control” group for guns.
Mayors
Against Illegal Guns is a
“Gun Safety, Gun Control” group for guns.
Independence
USA PAC is a
“Gun Safety, Gun Control” PAC for guns.
Americans
for Responsible Solutions is a
“Gun Safety, Gun Control” PAC for guns.
Emma Bloomberg
is Michael R. Bloomberg’s daughter,
a director at the Bloomberg Family
Foundation, and was the chief of staff for the Robin Hood Foundation.
Jeff
Zucker is a director at the Robin
Hood Foundation, and was an executive producer for the NBC Nightly News, an executive producer for Today, and the president & CEO for NBCUniversal.
John Chancellor
was an anchor for the NBC Nightly News,
and a host on Today.
Atiim Barber was a
correspondent for Today, and is a leadership
council member for the Robin Hood
Foundation.
Tom
Brokaw was an anchor for the NBC
Nightly News, and a director at the Robin
Hood Foundation.
Brian Williams was
an anchor for the NBC Nightly News, and
is a director at the Robin Hood
Foundation.
Robin Hood
Foundation was a funder for the Harlem
Village Academies.
Katie
Couric is a director at the Harlem
Village Academies, a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and a
co-founder & advisory council member for the Stand up to Cancer.
NBCUniversal is
a subsidiary of NBC, and a partner with
the Sundance Channel.
Robert Redford
is a partner with the Sundance Channel,
and the founder & president of the Sundance
Institute.
Kenneth D. Cole
is a trustee at the Sundance Institute,
and married to Maria Cuomo Cole.
Maria Cuomo Cole
is married to Kenneth D. Cole, and a
trustee at the Brady Center to Prevent
Gun Violence.
Brady
Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a “Gun Safety,
Gun Control” group for guns.
William D. Zabel
was George Soros’s divorce lawyer,
and is the chair for the Human Rights
First.
Kenneth R.
Feinberg is a director at the Human
Rights First, and was an administrator of victim payments for the 2012 Aurora (CO) theater shootings.
James D. Zirin
was a director at the Human Rights First,
and is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Mark A. Angelson
was a director at the Human Rights First,
and a partner at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama
was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
R. Eden Martin is
counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and
the president of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Commercial Club of
Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Newton N. Minow
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
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