On Monday afternoon, NBC national correspondent and occasional MSNBC anchor Peter Alexander went beyond simply giving a forum to anti-gun activists to promote their views, but he encouraged MSNBC viewers to go to their website and sign a contract promising to vote for anti-gun candidates.
At 3:30 p.m. Eastern, after recounting the anti-gun March for Our Lives rally from the weekend as he substitute-hosted MSNBC Live, Alexander brought up the website:
There's also a push called "Parents Promise to Kids" that encourages voters to sign a contract vowing to vote for candidates who -- as they describe it -- put child safety ahead of guns.
Sixteeen-year-old Parkland student Adam Buchwald soon explained:
This is a contract that we're asking every parent and grandparent in the nation to promise that they will vote for ethical legislators who put children's safety over guns.
A bit later, he made veiled reference to the NRA as he added: "We are going to have everyone vote for these politicians who will focus on children's safety and not take money from an outside source."
After Alexander played a clip of conservative CNN political commentator and former Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum complaining about the "politics" of the liberal anti-gun student movement, Zach Hibshman characterized his group as nonpartisan even though it will mostly be Democratic candidates who would take the kind of anti-gun positions that he would support.
Here's more from Hibshman: "This is not red or blue. This is not about Democrat or Republican. It's about getting the right laws to keep us safe at school."
After spending some time with a third guest -- notably a journalism teacher from the school -- Alexander concluded by actually asking viewers to go to the website and sign the pledge.
Alexander concluded: "Again, to those watching, you can check out Adam and Zach's contract at their website -- parentspromisetokids.org. Download it, print it, sign it, and post it."
The website suggests that the "safety" of children is in conflict with the "right to own guns," and in large letters on the main page, sets out the group's mission as being "against guns": "We want parents to promise to their children that they will vote for legislators who act against guns."
There's also a smaller section which claims that "100% of school shooters use guns of mass destruction."
