NBC sportscaster Bob Costas received a lot of flak in December for speaking out about guns during halftime of a football game, shortly after the murder-suicide of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher.
“If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today,” Costas said at the time.
But after later remarking that it was a “mistake” to talk about gun-control on the air, Costas is now addressing the topic again, this time on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
“I think any sane person believes we ought not have high capacity magazines and assault rifles and that there ought to be background checks,” Costas said on Monday’s show.
When Stewart asked him to define ‘sane,’ Costas said, “You know what? I’m not exactly sure what’s sane, but I know a lot of what I’ve heard in the aftermath [of Sandy Hook] is insane.”
The sportscaster said football players in particular have a higher risk of being involved in gun violence, since they participate in a “brutal, belligerent and violent” sport and “some of them won’t be able to contain that to the field.” Costas also said the cultural background of many NFL players — specifically hip-hop — glorifies guns.
“Some 70 percent of players in the NFL are African-American, not all of them are influenced by that part of the culture, but some are,” he said. “Many of these kids come out of environments where it’s commonplace for a 14 or 15-year-old to be packing.”
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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