Although many will agree that increased gun control is not the proper response to the tragedy that occurred early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, the partisan journalist Joe Klein proposed just that during a panel appearance on ABC’s This Week.
Echoing an opinion of the late New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D- NY), Klein pushed the idea of heavily taxing bullets.
“If we have the right to bear arms, we also have the right to tax bullets,” said Klein. “Maybe it should cost you $1,000 a bullet if you want to buy ammunition for a…,” at which point former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D- PA) quickly cut him off to make his own point about limiting citizens’ access to purchasing assault weapons.
Joe Klein seems to believe that Americans are only entitled to specific parts of the Bill of Rights, and not the full rights that serve to preserve the freedom of Americans.
Klein’s proposal would be a deliberate infringement on the Bill of Rights, as it places a tax on something that is required to fully exercise that right. His suggestion is similar to saying that one is free to practice religion, but must purchase a special ticket from the government to enter a house of worship.
In addition to being uncalled for, Joe Klein’s comment was an attempt to inject personal politics into a tragic situation, something that ABC News correspondent Brian Ross was also guilty of on Friday when he suggested the Tea Party may in some way be connected to the shooting.
Click here to view the full This Week clip and Klein’s comment.
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