Right-Wing Media Shout Down Costas' Attempt To Discuss “Gun Culture” In Wake Of NFL Murder-Suicide

Right-wing media, including Fox News and the Drudge Report, are attacking NBC's Bob Costas for daring to question America's “gun culture” in the wake of the tragic murder-suicide committed by a Kansas City Chiefs football player. The Drudge Report characterized Costas' comments as a “gun control rant” while Fox criticized him for “lecturing America on gun control” in the wake of the tragedy.

On December 1, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend at the house they shared before subsequently killing himself in front of his head coach and other members of the Chiefs organization. The following evening, during halftime of NBC's Sunday night football game, Costas endorsed part of a column by sportswriter Jason Whitlock who criticized the gun culture in America.

Costas said: " 'Our current gun culture," Whitlock wrote, 'ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience-store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead.' " Costas later added: " 'But here,' wrote Jason Whitlock, 'is what I believe: If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.' "

Fox News' Fox & Friends repeatedly questioned whether it was “appropriate” for Costas to be “lecturing America on gun control.”

Other right-wing sites including the Drudge Report, Fox Nation, and the Washington Free Beacon also attacked Costas, railing against what they described as Costas' “gun control rant”:

In the wake of previous tragedies, conservative media figures have advocated against gun laws and even denied that gun violence is a serious problem in the United States. Now they've turned their focus to Costas who brought up the subject of America's gun culture in the wake of the latest high-profile example of gun violence.