NBC should show Bob Costas the door.
When Rush slighted women he was lambasted and punished economically, probably to the tune of millions of dollars.
When Imus spoke crudely and dismissively of young black athletes he was fired (although he fought back and landed on his feet).
Any politician who even breathes a word that suggests he doesn't respect the rights and dignity of any group of Americans, no matter how small, puts his future at extreme risk.
Now imagine a man who suggests that an important civil right be stripped from ALL Americans. Imagine this is a right that is ACTIVELY practiced by more than half of all Americans.
Imagine a man who proposes limitations on a right SO IMPORTANT that the Founders of America enshrined it in the Constitution of the United States!
I give you just such a man, Bob Costas, who during halftime of an NFL game, quoted from a column by Fox Sports Columnist Jason Whitlock:
"What I believe is, if he didn't possess/own a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today. Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."
I'm not going out on a limb when I say Costas is suggesting a ban on Americans right to "keep and bear arms."
Those of us who cherish our God given civil rights (in full disclosure I have owned guns for the better part of half a century and I carry one daily both for the practical reason of self protection and as a public display of my belief in those rights) protected by a Constitution and elected officials who swear an oath to protect those rights, don't take threats like this lightly. People like me represent more than half the population of the country. People like Bob Costas, who command platforms from which to advocate elimination of our rights, constitute a threat to our freedoms.
Imagine the reaction if he had suggested stripping or limiting the civil rights of American blacks, or Muslims, or homosexuals or the disabled. If Costas had done that, every part of the mainstream media would be raising a ruckus about it today. I've worked in TV and radio newsrooms for more than 35 years. Because it involves guns, members of the media generally support the disdain espoused by President Obama for gun owners ("[T]hey get bitter, and they cling to guns or religion...as a way to explain their frustrations.")
I'll keep defending your gun rights and suggest that NBC pink slip anyone who uses the network to advocate stripping the Constitutional right that real Americans know was put there by Jefferson and company to protect them from government tyranny first and foremost.