As I noted here,
http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... 3#p1136383, Pew Research data shows that conservatives are less likely to be diametrically opposed to sources of news than are liberals.
Yesterday, I watched
NBC Evening News, as I do from time to time. In this one, a "report" by Jeff Rossen, seemingly out of left field (no pun intended) targeted the NRA and stated outright that 80% blank receivers have been used in crimes all over the nation. If anyone has hard data on that, pro or con, please post.
We have a Forum copyright rule, understandably, against the posting of the entirety or majority of any found information. Since the following is a manual transcription of a public broadcast, with comments and interpreted storyboard interspersed, I hope it is not in violation.
These thick fingers can still type quickly at times, and this piece jarred me as a continuing example of mainstream "news" being reported without factual citations...or citations of any kind other than "they say," with no attribution.
Is this the aspiration of today's journalism students? To be hired into a high-paying job by a major network and practice fake journalism where sources and citations don't matter?
Transcribed from NBC Evening News, with Lester Holt; 5:00 p.m. Eastern, February 9, 2017
“
Ghost Guns”
HOLT: “We’re back now with a rising concern among law enforcement. They call them ‘ghost guns,’ firearms that can’t be traced because they’re essentially ‘build-your-own’ gun kits. They’re legal. And they’re lethal, turning up in crimes all across the country. Our national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen has more tonight in, the ‘Rossen Reports.’”
[Cut to image of an AR-style rifle supposedly firing two rounds at a gun range. This same one-second video clip will be repeated during the segment as evidence of the efficacy of this garage assembly. Note that the rifle, viewed from the right side and fired right-handed, has its dust cover open, but slow-motion reply shows NO ROUND IN THE OPEN CHAMBER, NO CYCLING OF THE FIREARM, NO CARTRIDGES EJECTED, and NO MUZZLE FLASH.]
ROSSEN: “This is a real gun. And anyone can buy it.”
[Cut back to same shooter with same AR. He inserts a magazine and, for the first time, we see a cartridge appear just below the chamber. He shoulders the gun and fires a round. The subtitle is: “UNTRACEABLE ‘GHOST GUNS’ ALARM THE FEDS”; this appears at the bottom of the screen for most of the segment.]
ROSSEN: “No background check required. Perfectly legal. Why? Because it was built from a kit, arriving in pieces. So technically when it shipped, it’s not a gun.
“So-called ‘ghost guns’ are completely untraceable. No serial number. Now, federal authorities are calling it dangerous.”
GRAHAM BARLOWE, ATF SACRAMENTO RESIDENT AGENT IN CHARGE: “People that could not pass a background check are purchasing these unfinished receiver kits and making firearms because they know if they went to a gun store they wouldn’t be able to pass a background check.”
[Cut to an image of over a half-dozen ARs or M4s with actions secured by zip-ties. The majority of the rifles have EOTech holographic weaponsights installed. Note that these optics easily cost over $400 to $500 and are far from typical gangbanger kit. If a bad guy can fork out $500 for an optic, why would he drill and fit a cheap 80% receiver rather than buying a decent gun on the black market? So where did NBC get this image of quality rifles...and why did they use it?]
ROSSEN: “Police say the criminals are already onto it. Ghost guns are being used in shootings across the country, from Maryland to California.”
[Cut to a brief image of two cruisers with lit beater bars, then a close-up of the door of a blue sedan with multiple bullet holes that look far larger than 5.56x45. Note that no confirming data is given regarding the prolifity of crimes involving so-called "ghost guns."]
ROSSEN: “All you have to do is go online and there are dozens of websites selling these gun kits. We buy this rifle kit and have it shipped to former ATF agent Rick Vasquez.”
VASQUEZ: “My box came in.”
ROSSEN: “All the parts you need come together in the box. In fact, the part that makes it a gun comes 80% complete.”
[Cut to clip of Vasquez using a standard, hand-held drill, with NO guides and wobbling the bit, drilling into the receiver blank. If this resultant thing could ever function properly, I'm Buck Rogers.]
ROSSEN: “So it takes him just a couple of hours to put it together.”
VASQUEZ: “This is now a completed semi-automatic firearm.”
ROSSEN: “And I’m looking on it and, I mean there are, there’s no serial number, there’s no marking at all that I can see.”
VASQUEZ: “That is correct.”
ROSSEN: “This is untraceable.”
VASQUEZ: “You cannot trace this firearm.”
[Cut to a Prius hatchback on a graded, gravel road, presumably going to a rifle range.]
ROSSEN: “To prove it works, he takes us to a gun range.”
[Cut to a close-up of Vasquez inserting a magazine and shouldering the rifle. He fires two rounds, a controlled pair, then appears to have a stoppage. You can distinctly see his hand flex as if to fire a third round, but instead he begins lowering the rifle and instinctively looks at the chamber.]
VASQUEZ: “It works great!”
ROSSEN: “And those are real bullets? It’s operating like a regular semi-automatic weapon?”
VASQUEZ: “Absolutely. It’s real firearms ammunition.”
[Cut back to the image of a half-dozen ARs, at least five of which have expensive EOTech holographic weaponsights]
ROSSEN: “So what’s being done to stop it? We went to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
[Cut to clip of Chuck Schumer waving his arms and speaking at a podium; no audio. Can someone, anyone, please, get Schumer to stop wearing those ridiculous 50s-throwback half-glasses?]
ROSSEN: “What are you doing to close this loophole?”
SCHUMER: “Well, we’re going to try to pass legislation. The trouble is the NRA is so unreasonable and has such power in the Congress. You’d think it should pass like that [snaps fingers]! But it’s gonna be a long, hard road.”
[Cut to clip of NRA logo.]
ROSSEN: “So what’s the NRA’s response? After repeated calls and emails from NBC News, the NRA didn’t comment.
[Cut back to gun range where the supposedly hand-tool assembled 80% now fires two rounds, but with no rounds ejected and no muzzle flash or smoke, and with seemingly faked recoil.]
“But some officials say this is a dangerous loophole.
“Hiding semi-automatic weapons in plain sight.
“Jeff Rossen, NBC News, High View, West Virginia.”