Let’s All Have Guns - A Public Radio Endorsement
Recently, in the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, Washington’s NPR station, WAMU, aired a report that prompted me to write the following letter to the news director:
Dear Mr. Asendio,
I’ve just heard what I consider to be perhaps the worst news report I’ve ever heard on WAMU. Speaking as a long-time listener and admirer of WAMU, and as a former broadcast journalist at CNN and elsewhere, including PRI’s Marketplace, I was appalled at Jeff Kamen’s report about the failures of gun control laws. It was superficial, totally unbalanced and unfair, with sound bite after sound bite from pro-gun advocates who repeatedly made assertions that are controversial to say the least and often contradicted by data and other factual evidence. I find it hard to believe that WAMU would put a story on the air in which there were no opposing views to those of gun rights advocates who seek legalization of concealed firearms at Virginia Tech and other college campuses. In many quarters of American society, this is considered an extreme view, and indeed, I challenge Mr. Kamen to find university police chiefs who think having students pack weapons would make everyone safer. In fact, in the wake of the VT shootings I heard an interview on NPR with the police chief at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who rightly suggested that introducing weapons on campuses and allowing volatile post-adolescents who not infrequently have too much to drink to pack handguns is clearly not a good idea. Some, me included, think it’s a pretty crazy idea. And yet WAMU’s report did not even feature a comment challenging it.
I’m extremely disappointed and indeed angry at WAMU.
On a completely separate note (and certainly with a different tone), I’d like to compliment you on the interview you did with Christopher Buckley.
Sincerely,
Grant Perry