Bill O' Reilly's Gun Background

[andrewdl007]

I was upset with Bill when he made some wide sweeping generalizations about Virginia and its gun laws that arent true. I was discussing this with my father and he told me that Bill used to be anti-gun then something in his life led to him changing his views. He still doesnt seem to know to know enough about guns to judge but does anyone know if this is true and is so,what event caused his change of heart?

 

[Roc_Kor]

Katrina. He keeps mentioining that "The Aftermath of Hurricanse Katrina demonstrates how people need to protect themselves, because the government cannot do it for them." Or something to that effect.

 

[Deanimator]

If Bill O'Reilly didn't make sweeping generalizations, I'd think he'd been replaced by an alien hybrid.

In many ways, he's a rightwing Howard Stern. When they ask the same question twenty times, every time getting the same answer, they're totally interchangeable. The only difference is Stern is asking some actress if she's ever been with a woman, and O'Reilly is asking some lawyer to misstate the law.

They're both entertaining as far as they go. Just don't expect profound insights from either.

 

[GlenJ]

Chuck Shumer was on his show last night and Shumer came off very pro gun compared to O'Rielly. O'rielly said on his show last week that the goverment should know who owns guns.

 

[DesertDawg]

Someone beat me to the mention of Hurricane Katrina, but I think that there's more to it than that.

O'Reilly is a fairly large man (6'4", 220 pounds). From what I've read about him, he enjoys his "intimidating" size. However, he was visibly shaken last year when he learned that there was supposedly a "viable" threat against him, which the FBI notified him of. Something to do with "terrorists" of the middle-eastern type.

Do you recall the celebrity/actor who had "viable" threats on his life, and the FBI issued a nation-wide CCW permit to that individual? That celebrity had been, in a way, an FBI "informant", but NEVER informed on any individuals....just their activities. Well, that celebrity was none other than the Screen Actors Guild President, Ronald Wilson Reagan! Reagan had passed on information about the COMMUNIST activities going on in the movie industry. Much of the information that Reagan passed on was found to be correct....and his fellow actors that were COMMIES started trying to find out who was "snitching" on them. Reagan was given a permit and carried a snub-nosed .32 revolver as a private citizen!

Perhaps O'Reilly, who is definitely a "celebrity" within the news media, has been afforded the SAME thing (?) I doubt if O'Reilly would stoop to hiring a bodyguard.

I'm not a big fan of O'Reilly, but from what I've seen and heard, he seems to be, uh, "fair and balanced". You may not LIKE his stance on guns, but he SEEMS to always be on the side of the honest, law-abiding, decent and God-fearing people. During the shows that he has done on the Virginia Tech massacre, he has pointed out the "looney-tune" aspect of the Korean shooter, and has attacked the "overlook" and ineptitude of the courts that allowed the "resident alien" to LEGALLY purchase his handguns. In my thinking, O'Reilly is addressing the CORRECT problem....not the GUNS, but the "evil" individual who was allowed to purchase them!

Hey, it's okay to be a "gun nut", but I hope that we all can agree that "nuts" should NOT have access to guns! That "Chop Suey Hui", or whatever his name was, had SEVERAL indicators that revealed that he was mentally unstable, including a police officer AND a judge that, in so many words, declared him a "danger to himself and others"! Besides that, I certainly don't think that a "permanent resident alien" status should give someone the same "freedoms" as an American citizen!

 

[cloudcroft]

O'Reilly is even more ignorant about guns than he is about Christianity, or even being a Catholic (as he is supposed to be), if that's possible.

Who really takes him seriously anymore?

Glen Beck is only slightly more informed.

-- John D.

 

[-terry]

+1 cloudcroft

 

[Leanwolf]

DESERT DAWG - " I doubt if O'Reilly would stoop to hiring a bodyguard."

I'd bet a lot of coins he has armed bodyguards around him when out in the public in certain places and certain events.

L.W.

 

[Shipwreck]

Well, I may disagree with O'Reilly on some things - but he still does a lot of good stuff to. And, I enjoy listening to him most of the time.

 

[Prince Yamato]

+1 desertdawg.

I love how people on THR keep saying, "let's convert people to our side". Now we have a guy like O'Reilly who's actually coming towards our side and like a bunch of damn fools, we try to ostricize him instead of reach out. Agree or disagree with him on the other issues, the guy has serious weight. He was instrumental in getting Megan's Law passed. Imagine what he could do for CCW and gun rights.

He's a talking head, blah blah blah, but more people listen to him than other talk shows.

 

[Mike U.]

+1>Prince Yamato!

He has THE top rated cable TV news show and has had for a couple of years now. Like him or not, the man's words carry serious weight.
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he ends up bringing down Rosie O'Doofus.
Actually, I'd be be deliriously happy! I may even have to go out to the range and burn up a few hundred rounds of celebratory hot-lead slinging if that happens. WOOHOO!

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

Besides that, I certainly don't think that a "permanent resident alien" status should give someone the same "freedoms" as an American citizen!

I absolutely agree!!! When someone has spent 20 years in another culture, we do not know if he/she is able to abide by OUR LAWS. It is pointless to perform a background check on someone like that.

 

[gunsmith]

the O guy is wrong on the gun issue, but he's coming around.
He keeps on asking for "compromise" on things like a 3 day wait and including nut jobs in background check.
Nobody has asked him if this compromise could mean forcing nationwide reciprocity?
we take the three day wait on the chin and they give up not letting us carry in NY/CA.
Bill O has a ccw, I'm sure he would want to carry in CA as well as NY.
me too.

The "SP's" are the common enemy of Bill & us

 

[cloudcroft]

Prince Yamato et al,

I look at an individual's "whole package" re: his/her stand (or lack thereof) on political/social issues, not just on one particular issue, in this case, how he/she stands on the gun issue.

NOT standing on other important issues -- such as morality -- IS important to me.

O'Reilly doesn't cut it.

Consequently, I couldn't care less if he's for guns/RKBA or not.

He's irrelevant.

-- John D.

 

[Oohrah]

Pretty sure that he ran Rosie O into the ground on her owning,
along with a body guard. Problem with her is us common people
need to be restricted

 

[30 cal slob]

That "Chop Suey Hui", or whatever his name was...

I think "Psycho Cho" is a catchy appellation.

 

[cbsbyte]

Bill O has a ccw, I'm sure he would want to carry in CA as well as NY.
me too.

Ah but Bill has stated many times he is anti CCW. He does not believe people should carry outside of their homes. He also recently said he does not own ANY firearms.

 

[tecrsq]

Bill O just needs some time to completely understand our viewpoints, he no doubt will be an heavy voice for our cause.

The man does have gobs of power and persuation, no doubt in my mind that the "Rosie leaving the View" story today is due in part to his steadfast accounts to her ramblings..

I like the guy and believe he will be more educated with time, he needs to also be educated as to the global gun control scheme that Soros and Peters are perpetuating and bankrolling as well, that alone will change his mind.

 

[nra-life-member]

I think Bill O is more pro then anti.

BTW.. I need to attend the Fox network. He is on in 5 minutes

 

[Cpl Nobbs]

I will bet fewer gun crimes are committed by legal resident aliens. maybe you need to pass laws only allowing us to carry firearms.

this had nothing to do with the nutjob being a Legal Alien, it had everything to do with him being a nutjob and the students being disarmed by Fiat.

Good Day to you all.

 

[Moondoggie]

I think Bill grew up with a common anti-gun bias due to the enviornment of NYC. Bad guys have guns, guns will only get you in trouble, the cops are supposed to have guns.

Kinda like most folks in NYC don't own cars...too much hassle, other forms of transport make more sense in an urban megalopolis.

He went to college on the East Coast and has lived as an urbanite his entire life. Also, due to his size, he probably never felt the need for a firearm for personal defense. He played football in college, so he's no wuss. I watched an hour on him on "Biography" and he did some pretty gutsy stuff in Nicaragua during their civil war to chase down stories on the insurgents. He also has a very strict personal/moral code...doesn't drink alcohol in any form and didn't participate in the extracurricular activities that were available to him as a football player on a college campus.

I don't always agree with every position he takes, and he's a media beast much like all the others, but I think it takes a person of reason to make the moderate pro-gun statements that he has following Katrina given his background. I do believe he said that every home should have a rifle, and he was getting one.

I'd like to take him to the range.

Now Geraldo, THAT guy makes me wanna puke. Rails against the availibility of guns to Cho Whack Job, yet proclaims that he's "Packin' heat" on camera when he was in Afghanistan. What a punk!

 

[USSR]

Bill O'Really is an unprincipled, pompous @ss. Sure, he's right on alot of things, but even a broken clock is right two times a day. There are many conservative pundits worth listening to, but Bill is not one of them.

Don

 

[GRIZ22]

Chuck Shumer was on his show last night and Shumer came off very pro gun compared to O'Rielly.

I think that's part of the Democratic Party's smoke screen for the 2008 election.

There are some things I agree with O'Reilly but it seems to me he's just trying to shock people most of the time.

 

[joab]

I certainly don't think that a "permanent resident alien" status should give someone the same "freedoms" as an American citizen!

Is that because Natural borns are so much more likely to abide by the laws when they are not subject to deportation?
Or because American citizens have gone through so many background checks?

The difference between a naturalized citizen and a resident alien is one thousand words of English and an eighth grade history test

 

[Justin]

[strike]I think[/strike] that's part of the Democratic Party's smoke screen for the 2008 election.

Fixed it for you.

Democrat strategists have been doing everything in their power to keep their candidates quiet on the gun issue. They blame us for the loss of Congress in the mid '90's and for Gore's loss of the White House.