Discussing the October 10 shooting that left five injured and the gunman -- a student -- dead at SuccessTech Academy high school in Cleveland, Ohio, “Gunny” Bob Newman promoted his own school security business on his Newsradio 850 KOA show that evening. Newman told his listeners that Fox News Channel -- for which he said he “do[es] a lot of consulting” -- invited him on the air earlier that day to discuss the school shooting “because of, you know, my background and my company, Workplace and School Security, LLC."
Newman later “call[ed]” on Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter to “personally ensure ... that every public school in Colorado is as safe a place as it can possibly be,” and he further stated that “there isn't a state in the nation that is doing anywhere near everything it can to protect the children. And it's time we start thinking outside of the box.” Newman also asked his listeners: “Should trained and certified teachers be allowed to have defensive weapons in public schools to protect the kids? Or should the teachers always be banned from having defensive weapons?”
From the October 10 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:
NEWMAN: These school shootings -- they've become practically commonplace. Now, we're going to be talking about that tonight. But we're going to weave it into something called the “chip-away gambit” -- you know, where you chip away at something? And this all has to do with your rights. And I was thinking about this today. You know, the news was just breaking on the school shooting in Ohio. I mean, it was just going on. You know, no one knew what the heck was happening, and somebody was shooting, and people had been shot. And my phone rings and on the caller ID on my global cell phone, and it says “unknown caller.” And that usually means it's either somebody at the White House or it's Fox News Channel in New York. And it's Jane Skinner from Fox News Channel in New York, you know -- or, excuse me, her producer. And, you know, can you come on right away and talk to us about, you know, about situations like this because of, you know, my background and my company, Workplace and School Security, LLC, and stuff like this. And I do a lot of consulting for Fox News Channel. So as I'm talking with Jane Skinner and, you know, and answering her questions and watching, you know, the monitors and stuff like that, I keep thinking: you know, our most precious right is our right to life. It's not our First Amendment right, Second Amendment right, Fourth Amendment rights. Our most precious right is our right to life. If you don't have that, what good are all -- frankly, gang, what good are all the other ones?
So I was thinking, OK, for tonight's show, we're going to do a program called “the chip-away gambit: your rights are vanishing one by one.” And we were so fortunate in Ohio today, in Cleveland at this high school where this mass shooting took place, when Asa Coon -- 14-year-old student -- walks in with two handguns, a 14-year-old walks in with two handguns and opens fire. Yet somehow, no one was killed -- except the shooter, and he took his own life when he put a revolver in his mouth, according to reports so far, and pulled the trigger. And it got me to thinking: You know what? How many times are we going to have to see this? How many freaking times are we going to have to see this before political correctness is pushed aside and we and our schools get serious about taking our most precious right seriously -- our right to life and our kids' rights to their lives. 303-713-8585. So first up is this horrific shooting. Now, the liberals blame the guns, while the conservatives blame the shooters and the people who allowed the kids to illegally acquire the guns. As well as parents who pay no attention to what their troubled kids are up to, like in Columbine. The fact of the matter is that kids have the right not to be shot in school. And it is up to adults to enforce that right. 303-713-8585. 303-713-8585. And this could happen tomorrow, again, right here in Colorado. Whether it's Platte Canyon, Columbine, or one of the other, many other schools that we have here. It can happen here again tomorrow, because we are not thinking clearly as adults.
I want to know from you tonight: Should trained and certified teachers be allowed to have defensive weapons in public schools to protect the kids? Or should the teachers always be banned from having defensive weapons? You answer it for me. And when you do it, state your reasons. Substantiate your answer, if you would. 303-713-8585. The chip-away gambit. Your rights are vanishing one by one, and our most precious right -- our right to life -- is threatened every single day because adults are not taking responsibility. I call on Governor Ritter to personally ensure -- let me state that again: personally ensure -- that every public school in Colorado is as safe a place as it can possibly be. Our most precious right is our right to life, and right now there isn't a state in the nation -- don't think it's just Colorado or Ohio, it's not -- there isn't a state in the nation that is doing anywhere near everything it can to protect the children. And it's time we start thinking outside of the box.