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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Nancy Skinner, Ben Ferguson

Aired April 27, 2003 - 09:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: We have two guests to kick around the gun ownership issue. In Boston, Nancy Skinner, host of Nancy Skinner's Radio Vox Pop. And in Memphis, conservative radio talk show host, Ben Ferguson. Thank you both for being here.
BEN FERGUSON, TALK SHOW RADIO HOST: Thanks for having us.

ARENA: You know we just recently saw another school shooting in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, where a young man shot his principal and shot himself, but nary a word on the gun control debate. Is that debate dead?

FERGUSON: I don't think the gun control debate is dead at all. I mean you've got Governor Locke in Washington state who a couple of weeks ago, tried to get legislation passed that said guns were weapons of mass destruction. I think the reason why the gun control debate has died down is because of the fact that most anti-gun people out in Washington have not had much to argue about because they're two big issues were the Littleton shootings. They tried to use that as if we had more gun control those kids would have been saved. But 20 laws were broke there and even the two students who did the school shootings there, made a school video about gunning down students in the hallways of their schools; they turned it in and got a grade on it.

So it's not much about gun control; it's about warning signs. I mean, even you look at the 6-year old who killed another 6-year-old in Flint, Michigan. When they went to the house of the where the kid got the gun where he was staying, his father, his uncle, and his mother were all in jail. They found cocaine, heroin, and stolen guns and ammunition in the house. So is gun control really going to help that situation? I highly doubt it.

ARENA: Well, I think Nancy may have another point of view.

NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think the gun debate is over, Kelli. You, like you said, we hardly talk about it; these shootings go on even with the sniper shootings in D.C.; hardly a word about it, and let's give credit where credit is due. I think Charlton Heston had a lot to do with that. He was the best thing that ever happened to the NRA, the most effective spokesman they could have ever had.

But I will tell you, I wish that he would have been an advocate for children without health insurance or a cause more noble than scaring hunters and people who want to own a gun into believing the government was coming to take their guns, because as far as I know, nobody ever tried to take Charlton Heston's gun.

But you know what? We've pulled the guns from a lot of dead, cold hands of kids who shot up their schools, and mentally ill people, and criminals; people who had no reason to have a gun. But because we scare so many people into believing that any effort to block the flow of illegal guns is tantamount to taking away their right to a gun; so much has been thwarted that now no one even talks about it. In fact there's a bill passing through Congress to give immunity to the gun industry. Something that's never happened before.

FERGUSON: Nancy.

ARENA: Well you know we have seen, we have seen some action in the courts though, the NAACP filed a suit against aiding gun makers for allegedly allowing guns to fall into the wrong hands. So obviously this issue still has some life if not in ...

SKINNER: But now the Congress is moving to give immunity

FERGUSON: But, Nancy, the NRA...

SKINNER: ... to the industry, which would wipe out all those cases. No single industry has immunity. I mean this is, talk about unconstitutional. You will not the right ...

FERGUSON: That's absolutely not true.

SKINNER: ... to sue the gun industry.

FERGUSON: Nancy, you've got right now, OK. the Brady Bill. You all wanted, first of all we have waiting periods, we have age restrictions, and you have to go through a background check. That is more than, that is ample enough, and I agree with every one of those laws. But to say that the NRA is anti-gun control ...

SKINNER: And the NRA fought all of those.

FERGUSON: ... because of people like Mrs. Brady and the Brady Bill, they want to have the right to bear arms. This isn't a right to give guns to children. This isn't a right to kill people. If you look at the shooting in Louisiana a couple of weeks ago, the kid that was shot in the school shooting was packing a gun, which was actually stolen. So you don't look at those issues. Everybody tries to use school shootings as an issue for gun control; it's not gun control. When was the last time a political leader went to a school and talked to children about how to keep them safe?

SKINNER: It's not about safety. You know ...

FERGUSON: It is about safety.

SKINNER: In fact, some ...

ARENA: Well, let me ask you about that whole safety issue. I mean we are still somewhat reeling from the effects of the September 11 terror attacks. I mean how, how do you think that has played into the whole psyche of this debate?

SKINNER: Well, I'll tell you. As it concerns September 11, it's sort of funny that the only group that was exempted from John Ashcroft's witch-hunt, were gun owners. He would not allow law enforcement officials looking for terrorists, to use people off gun lists that had committed felonies because of their sacred right. Everybody else was fair game, so I think you know, honestly that September 11 took the whole issue off the table.

FERGUSON: I mean, I think September 11, yes took the issue off the table because people realized that for the first time that we're not safe in America. And people want to have the right to own a gun. But before September 11, America could watch TV for 30 seconds, get a blurb about a school shooting, and then all of the sudden go, oh if nobody had guns everybody would be safe. Which now they realize is not true.

SKINNER: Nobody has said that. Tell me who said that if nobody had guns. The people who are, what they're trying to do is stop the straw dealing, the illegal flow on to black market of guns that make it into the hands of people who should not have them.

FERGUSON: And we have, we have laws for that.

SKINNER: That's all I'm talking about.

ARENA: OK. Guys, you know what? Obviously, the gun debate; alive and well on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We thank you both for joining us. Nancy Skinner, Ben Ferguson.

FERGUSON: Thank you so much.

ARENA: Have a good day.

FERGUSON: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 27, 2003 - 09:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: We have two guests to kick around the gun ownership issue. In Boston, Nancy Skinner, host of Nancy Skinner's Radio Vox Pop. And in Memphis, conservative radio talk show host, Ben Ferguson. Thank you both for being here.
BEN FERGUSON, TALK SHOW RADIO HOST: Thanks for having us.

ARENA: You know we just recently saw another school shooting in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, where a young man shot his principal and shot himself, but nary a word on the gun control debate. Is that debate dead?

FERGUSON: I don't think the gun control debate is dead at all. I mean you've got Governor Locke in Washington state who a couple of weeks ago, tried to get legislation passed that said guns were weapons of mass destruction. I think the reason why the gun control debate has died down is because of the fact that most anti-gun people out in Washington have not had much to argue about because they're two big issues were the Littleton shootings. They tried to use that as if we had more gun control those kids would have been saved. But 20 laws were broke there and even the two students who did the school shootings there, made a school video about gunning down students in the hallways of their schools; they turned it in and got a grade on it.

So it's not much about gun control; it's about warning signs. I mean, even you look at the 6-year old who killed another 6-year-old in Flint, Michigan. When they went to the house of the where the kid got the gun where he was staying, his father, his uncle, and his mother were all in jail. They found cocaine, heroin, and stolen guns and ammunition in the house. So is gun control really going to help that situation? I highly doubt it.

ARENA: Well, I think Nancy may have another point of view.

NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think the gun debate is over, Kelli. You, like you said, we hardly talk about it; these shootings go on even with the sniper shootings in D.C.; hardly a word about it, and let's give credit where credit is due. I think Charlton Heston had a lot to do with that. He was the best thing that ever happened to the NRA, the most effective spokesman they could have ever had.

But I will tell you, I wish that he would have been an advocate for children without health insurance or a cause more noble than scaring hunters and people who want to own a gun into believing the government was coming to take their guns, because as far as I know, nobody ever tried to take Charlton Heston's gun.

But you know what? We've pulled the guns from a lot of dead, cold hands of kids who shot up their schools, and mentally ill people, and criminals; people who had no reason to have a gun. But because we scare so many people into believing that any effort to block the flow of illegal guns is tantamount to taking away their right to a gun; so much has been thwarted that now no one even talks about it. In fact there's a bill passing through Congress to give immunity to the gun industry. Something that's never happened before.

FERGUSON: Nancy.

ARENA: Well you know we have seen, we have seen some action in the courts though, the NAACP filed a suit against aiding gun makers for allegedly allowing guns to fall into the wrong hands. So obviously this issue still has some life if not in ...

SKINNER: But now the Congress is moving to give immunity

FERGUSON: But, Nancy, the NRA...

SKINNER: ... to the industry, which would wipe out all those cases. No single industry has immunity. I mean this is, talk about unconstitutional. You will not the right ...

FERGUSON: That's absolutely not true.

SKINNER: ... to sue the gun industry.

FERGUSON: Nancy, you've got right now, OK. the Brady Bill. You all wanted, first of all we have waiting periods, we have age restrictions, and you have to go through a background check. That is more than, that is ample enough, and I agree with every one of those laws. But to say that the NRA is anti-gun control ...

SKINNER: And the NRA fought all of those.

FERGUSON: ... because of people like Mrs. Brady and the Brady Bill, they want to have the right to bear arms. This isn't a right to give guns to children. This isn't a right to kill people. If you look at the shooting in Louisiana a couple of weeks ago, the kid that was shot in the school shooting was packing a gun, which was actually stolen. So you don't look at those issues. Everybody tries to use school shootings as an issue for gun control; it's not gun control. When was the last time a political leader went to a school and talked to children about how to keep them safe?

SKINNER: It's not about safety. You know ...

FERGUSON: It is about safety.

SKINNER: In fact, some ...

ARENA: Well, let me ask you about that whole safety issue. I mean we are still somewhat reeling from the effects of the September 11 terror attacks. I mean how, how do you think that has played into the whole psyche of this debate?

SKINNER: Well, I'll tell you. As it concerns September 11, it's sort of funny that the only group that was exempted from John Ashcroft's witch-hunt, were gun owners. He would not allow law enforcement officials looking for terrorists, to use people off gun lists that had committed felonies because of their sacred right. Everybody else was fair game, so I think you know, honestly that September 11 took the whole issue off the table.

FERGUSON: I mean, I think September 11, yes took the issue off the table because people realized that for the first time that we're not safe in America. And people want to have the right to own a gun. But before September 11, America could watch TV for 30 seconds, get a blurb about a school shooting, and then all of the sudden go, oh if nobody had guns everybody would be safe. Which now they realize is not true.

SKINNER: Nobody has said that. Tell me who said that if nobody had guns. The people who are, what they're trying to do is stop the straw dealing, the illegal flow on to black market of guns that make it into the hands of people who should not have them.

FERGUSON: And we have, we have laws for that.

SKINNER: That's all I'm talking about.

ARENA: OK. Guys, you know what? Obviously, the gun debate; alive and well on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We thank you both for joining us. Nancy Skinner, Ben Ferguson.

FERGUSON: Thank you so much.

ARENA: Have a good day.

FERGUSON: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com