Bob Costas doubles down on call for more gun control

On Monday, Bernie Goldberg tried to defend his friend while on O'Reilly's show on Fox.

BERNARD GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, like you, I know Bob Costas. He's a good friend of mine. And he's a very thoughtful guy. 

The first thing, just to get it out of the way, he was on for less than a minute. And, almost all of the time, he spent quoting a very fine columnist out in Kansas City named Jason Whitlock. 

But as far as Bob himself is concerned, I spoke to him today at length, and he told me that -- 

-- he, in no way, wants -- and if he could even snap his fingers and make it happen, he wouldn't repeal the Second Amendment because of abuses that some people commit with guns, in any more than he would repeal the First Amendment because some people say stupid things and hurtful things. 

So, that's not what it's about. He told me he has no problem with people who have guns to protect their homes or to go hunting. He said that he thinks there should be reasonable gun control so that people don't have -- can't go online and build an arsenal of guns and put it in their basement. . . .

But the most important thing he told me, Bill, is that he wasn't by and large talking about gun laws. . . . .

Unfortunately, soon after Bernie was defending Costas to Fox viewers as saying that Costas "wasn't by and large talking about gun laws," Costas was on MSNBC seeming to say the opposite. 

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"Do I believe that we need more comprehensive and more sensible legislation?  Yes, I do."

Going after the "gun culture" in the US, Costas argued.

"It demonstrates itself in the wild west, Dirty Harry mentality.  People who actually believe that if a number of people were armed at the theater in Aurora, they would have been able to take down this nut job in body armor and military style artillery.  In fact, almost every police man in the country would tell you that would have only increased the tragedy and added to the carnage.  But it also plays itself out, and Jason Whitlock had some insight into this, it plays itself out in the inner cities where teenage kids are somehow armed to the hilt." 

Here are two pieces that are relevant to Costas' claims (here and here).

Take the annual survey by the National Association of Chiefs of Police of more than 20,000 chiefs of police and sheriffs. In 2010 it found that 95% believed "any law-abiding citizen [should] be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense." Seventy-seven percent believed that concealed-handgun permits issued in one state should be honored by other states "in the way that drivers' licenses are recognized through the country"—and that making citizens' permits portable would "facilitate the violent crime-fighting potential of the professional law enforcement community." . . .

Costas also approvingly talks about Whitlock's views on guns in the inner city.  Whitlock's KKK comments on Monday, before the MSNBC interview, get things backwards.
I believe the NRA is the new KKK. And that the arming of so many black youths, uh, and loading up our community with drugs, and then just having an open shooting gallery, is the work of people who obviously don’t have our best interests.

The point is that blacks in these high crime areas need protection.  Drug gangs are a real problem.  Police are also the most important factor protecting people, but they can't be there all the time.  Poor blacks in the inner city benefit more than others from having a chance to defend themselves.

Costas had this interview on Monday available here.