From the Associated Press:
NBC broadcaster Bob Costas used his halftime segment on "Sunday Night Football" to advocate for gun control following this weekend's murder-suicide involving Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher....Here's video:
In a segment about 90 seconds long, Costas paraphrased and quoted extensively from a piece by Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock.
After praising the column, Costas said: "In the coming days, Jovan Belcher's actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. Who knows? 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."
Belcher shot and killed Perkins, the mother of his 3-month daughter, on Saturday morning, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in the parking lot of the team's practice facility.
"If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today."
That's a ridiculous statement. Murders and suicides are committed without the use of guns. It can't be assumed that Belcher chose to commit murder and then kill himself because he had guns. It can't be assumed he and Perkins would be alive today if he didn't possess a gun.
Of course, Costas is entitled to his opinion. He has the right to hold a misguided view.
But should Costas have used the platform of Sunday Night Football to blindside viewers with an editorial about the 2nd Amendment during halftime? Should Costas have preached to the audience and concluded that an inanimate object was at fault for Belcher's acts?
No.
Belcher is responsible, not a gun.
I think it would have been wrong for Costas to speak in favor of gun ownership and to highlight Belcher's culpability.
Wrong time, wrong place.
