Give MSNBC an opportunity to blame guns for a shooting and they will take advantage every time. On the December 23 edition of Ronan Farrow Daily, guest host Ayman Mohyeldin declared that the “NYPD shooting this past weekend is one case where gun laws somehow failed.”
In an apparent effort to promote its association with the digital media company Vocativ, the network turned the tragedy into a gun control issue. Mohyeldin led into a report from Vocativ by making a completely unfounded assertion about how the shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, got his weapon: “It could have been through the black market or the so-called private sale loophole. That means private sellers don't have to do background checks.”
Mohyeldin ended his introduction of the segment by highlighting MSNBC’s association with the media company: “Our partners at Vocativ have this report on just how easy it can be to buy a firearm no matter what your history is.”
The report described how a woman with a history of mental problems was able to successfully purchase a gun with little difficulty. While the report seems to indicate that the clerk didn’t follow the law appropriately – he did not ask her if she had been committed to a mental institution, as he is required to – Vocativ and MSNBC were still willing to place blame on the law itself.
MSNBC, and specifically Ronan Farrow Daily, has used Vocativ to link MMA to the Boston Marathon terrorists and for a bizarre piece on BronyCon, a collection of male adults obsessed with “My Little Pony.”
The relevant transcript of the segment is below.
Ronan Farrow Daily
December 23, 2014
1:33 p.m. EasternAYMAN MOHYELDIN: Gun smuggling lets consumers buck the background check and get their hands on firearms even if they are felons or mentally ill. The NYPD shooting this past weekend is one case where gun laws somehow failed. The suspect, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, should not have had a gun, he had served two years in prison and has been arrested more than a dozen times. His sister also said he was in need of mental help.
ISMAAIYL BRINSLEY SISTER: He was an emotionally troubled young man. And, um, he was suicidal. Clearly something is wrong. He should have been offered help in the system. Right? But he wasn't.
MOHYELDIN: Police don't know how he got his weapon. It could have been through the black market or the so-called private sale loophole. That means private sellers don't have to do background checks. Our partners at Vocativ have this report on just how easy it can be to buy a firearm no matter what your history is.
SAMANTHA: My name is Samantha and I also go by Sammy. I am 27 years old. I have bipolar type one disorder and social anxiety disorder. Bipolar one has what is called true mania which is the, you know, mania where the person can lose touch with reality. This video is kind of going to be talking about stuff I did when I was having bipolar symptoms, delusions and hallucinations. I just thought I would feel safer if I had a gun in my house. I have been better for three years and I would like to go see if I can buy a gun. I honestly have no idea whether I will pass a background check or not.
NARRATOR: Sami said she has been in a mental institution twice, once voluntarily and once involuntarily. In that second case, she said she was kept under close supervision for eight days.
SAMANTHA: I went involuntarily to the hospital. I had no control over my mind, really. Not in a violent way, but in a delusional way. I thought that Jesus was talking to me and I thought I was the Dalai Lama. The police saw me wandering down the street taking my clothes off. They were kind of leading me to the police car saying she needs to go to the hospital. And I wouldn't get in the car, so they put handcuffs on me.
[…]
GUN STORE CLERK: If you don't have a lot of shooting experiences, a lot of people suggest a revolver. It’s very easy to use. Do you have a driver's license? Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective? So has a judge said you are crazy?
SAMANTHA: Not a judge.
CLERK: No, no. Adjudicated means a judgment that you have been committed.
REPORT: The form also asks, have you ever been committed to a mental institution?
CLERK: If you’re worried about being committed or self-committed, it’s not that. Yeah, don't worry about treatment places or five days or those types of places. That doesn’t count.
VOCATIV PRODUCER: So just a judge has to…
CLERK: That a judge said that you are incapable of owning a firearm.
