New NFL Death Shows Media's Dual Standard About Guns, Says CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After yet another tragic death involving an NFL player over the weekend, there is the appearance of a double standard in media handling of the case, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

"A week ago," noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, "NBC's Bob Costas was having fits about a so-called 'gun culture,' but what about the culture of big money, flashy cars and alcohol that permeates the NFL? Dallas player Jerry Brown is dead from what appears to be a drunken driving crash involving teammate Josh Brent. Brown is no less dead than Javon Belcher or his girlfriend and Brent faces criminal charges. Costas was alarmed at the number of NFL players with guns, but he's said virtually nothing about the ones who drink and drive."   

Costas ignited a firestorm last week, showing a lack of knowledge about firearms, current laws and the so-called "gun culture" when he editorialized about the Belcher case and then had to do damage control for several days.

"What Bob Costas doesn't know about guns," Gottlieb said, "would probably fill a library. His remarks about violent crime, gun owners and semiautomatic firearms demonstrated why the firearms community distrusts mainstream press because many, if not most, of the talking heads don't know what they're talking about.

"According to FBI crime data," he continued, "the number of homicides involving firearms has declined over the past several years. Last year, out of 12,664 homicides, firearms were used in about 8,500 of those crimes, and handguns were used in less than half.

"Compare that to more than 10,000 deaths attributed annually to drunk driving," Gottlieb said, "yet where is the great discussion about that after Brown's death? 

"Last week, Costas asked who 'needs' a semiautomatic firearm," he added. "Well, who needs to drive drunk? NFL players certainly have enough money to pay for a cab ride, don't they?

"How many drunks are on the road every weekend following tailgate parties at NFL games," Gottlieb questioned. "What's more dangerous, a citizen with a firearm or an NFL player with a bar tab?"

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.

SOURCE Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms