Bill Cosby may think the Trayvon Martin shooting has more to do with guns than race, but NRA President Wayne LaPierre is having none of it. At the group’s annual conference yesterday, he lambasted the media for “manufacture[ing] controversy for ratings” and ignoring other violent crimes, which he maintained are part of everyday life in American cities. (And not at all because American cities are awash in firearms, naturally.) “Everyday victims aren’t celebrities,” he told his members, as reported by Fox News. “They don’t draw ratings, don’t draw sponsors. But sensational reporting from Florida does. In the aftermath of one of Florida’s many daily tragedies, my phone has been ringing off the hook.” He then proceeded to scold reporters at large, for “your dishonesty, duplicity and moral irresponsibility,” which are “directly contributing to the collapse of American freedom in our country.” It’s guns, people, guns that are the answer to everything that’s wrong, all the time, in every situation. The “daily tragedy” that ended 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s life had nothing to do with guns, except insofar as the person who killed him just happened to think Martin looked suspicious while armed with a gun.
