Rich Eisen Blasts Constitutional Carry by Citing Shooting in State Without Constitutional Carry

NFL analyst Rich Eisen, speaks during a pre-game show before an NFL football game between
AP Photo/Frank Victores // Inset: Karen Ducey/Getty Images
AWR Hawkins

Sports commentator Rich Eisen pushed gun control during his program on Thursday and blasted constitutional carry by citing a shooting that occurred in a state that does not have constitutional carry.

Eisen referenced the February 13, 2023, Michigan State University shooting, in which three people were killed. He then referenced former Alabama player Darius Miles, who is charged with capital murder in connection with the shooting death of a 23-year-old woman.

Eisen then moved to shootings in general and asked, “How do the shooters get the guns? How do the shooters get the guns? Why is it so easy to get a gun?”

He added, “We should find out who gave it to them, how they got them, how they bought them, how it’s so easy to get, and it’s getting worse”:

Eisen then suggested Michigan State University basketball coach Tom Izzo is hesitant to talk about the topic because it is “political” and because Izzo grew up in a part of Michigan where hunting is extremely popular.

Eisen said, “Great, no one is taking your hunting guns away. Nobody. Why can’t we find out who’s responsible enough to get a gun and who’s not? Why can’t we have laws on the books?”

It should be noted that America has had background checks for retail gun purchases via the National Instant Criminal Background Check System since 1998.

Moreover, nearly every high profile mass shooter of the last 15 years bought his guns via a background check. Here is a short list of some of the high profile attacks carried out with guns that were legally purchased via background checks:

  • Monterey Park Lunar Celebration attacker (January 21, 2023)
  • Highland Park Parade attacker (July 4, 2022)
  • Uvalde attacker (May 24, 2022)
  • Buffalo Grocery attacker (May 10, 2022)
  • Indianapolis FedEx attacker (April 15, 2021)
  • Atlanta-area attacker (March 16, 2021)
  • Parkland high school attacker (February 14, 2018)
  • Texas church attacker (November 5, 2017)
  • Las Vegas attacker (October 1, 2017)
  • Alexandria attacker (June 14, 2017)
  • Orlando attacker (June 12, 2016)
  • UCLA gunman (June 1, 2016)
  • San Bernardino attackers (December 2, 2015)
  • Colorado Springs attacker (October 31, 2015)
  • Umpqua Community College attacker (October 1, 2015)
  • Alison Parker’s attacker (August 26, 2015)
  • Lafayette movie theater attacker (July 23, 2015)
  • Chattanooga attacker (July 16, 2015)
  • Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal attacker (Jun 17, 2015)
  • Muhammad Cartoon Contest attackers (May 3, 2014)
  • Las Vegas cop killers (June 9, 2015)
  • Santa Barbara attacker (May 23, 2014)
  • Fort Hood attacker (April 2, 2014)
  • Arapahoe High School attacker (December 13, 2013)
  • D.C. Navy Yard attacker (September 16, 2013)
  • Aurora movie theater attacker (July 20, 2012)
  • Gabby Giffords’ attacker (January 8, 2011)
  • Fort Hood attacker (November 5, 2009)
  • Northern Illinois University attacker (February 14, 2008)
  • Virginia Tech attacker (April 16, 2007)

Eisen then targeted constitutional carry, saying, “There’s permitless carry in so many states now. Florida, you know what happened yesterday: there was a shooting in Orlando, somebody goes to cover it, and that person gets shot and killed, along with a nine-year-old.”

Two things: 1. Florida does not have permitless carry. The legislature is currently discussing it, but the state has not yet adopted it. So you have to have a permit to carry concealed in the Sunshine State. 2. The individual who allegedly killed a woman, then killed an Orlando reporter covering the homicide, was a “known gang member” with “a lengthy criminal history, including aggravated battery, assault and grand theft,” according to WESH. Such individuals often ignore gun laws.

Breitbart News reported that some Michigan State University students are calling for firearm policies to be changed to allow campus carry so they can be armed for self-defense.

West Virginia’s House passed campus carry in the wake of the Michigan State University shooting, and Gov. Jim Justice said he will sign the bill “in a matter of seconds” once it reaches his desk.

WVNews quoted Justice saying, “When this bill comes to me, it won’t be with me but for a matter of seconds, because I’ll sign it. It may very well be that we’ve got somebody on (a college) campus that has a firearm who, when something bad starts to happen, may save a bunch of lives. I really, truly believe that the people who have firearms and carry permits are law-abiding, good people with rock solid credentials behind them.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

 

 

 

 

 

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