Cosby on guns

[sawgrass]

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/new ... ill.Cosby/

I wonder how many armed security guards he has employed.

[FredsBank]

He says there is a need to get guns off the streets, and that people should be taught to use every possible alternative before shooting someone.

Can't argue with this specific statement. The problem is the article doesn't expand on his comments and it's dripping with gun-control possibilities. I suspect he said much more, but as usual the media flunks out on good reporting.

[Squib Joe]

New York Magazine, 5-21-2005

"Taxi Driver star Robert De Niro is one of New York’s most famous gun owners, as is his friend Harvey Keitel. Others on the list include Arthur Ochs Sulzberger (a former Marine), Don Imus, Bill Cosby, Joan Rivers, Howard Stern, Tommy Mottola, and Donald Trump (just one pistol, says his spokeswoman, who didn’t know the make)."

Boston Globe, 11-19-1993

"Bill Cosby was issued a (NYC CCW) permit in 1988 after stating that he and members of his family had been the object of unspecified death threats."

Zippity zoppity snicker de doop

[rugersol]

Cosby said calling George Zimmerman a racist doesn't solve anything. Cosby says the bigger question is what Zimmerman was doing with a gun, and who taught him how to behave with it.

"Who was his instructor?!"

Can't say as I'm in complete disagreement.

He says there is a need to get guns off the streets, and that people should be taught to use every possible alternative before shooting someone.

Unlike related comments from other "celebrities", I don't see this as any kind of attack on the NRA or its members ... I see it directed solely at gangstas.

Cosby said during the interview, which was taped Thursday afternoon, that he once owned a gun but no longer does.

... not quite as good as saying "ya, I own a gun ... and I know how ... and WHEN ... to use it ... support the NRA!" ... but again, I don't see it as much of a criticism of gun-owners?

[photogpat]

CNN's slanted journalism/facts/selective editing aside, I didn't necessarily disagree with anything he said in this interview either -- but the "anti's" are already making hay off of it as a "celebrity endorsement" of their current cause, "Repeal of Stand Your Ground (Kill at Will) laws".

[FredsBank]

Cosby said during the interview, which was taped Thursday afternoon, that he once owned a gun but no longer does.

I suspect Cosby lost his gun in a tragic boating accident and it's at the bottom of some lake or river.

[xd ED]

It appears Cosby once possessed a rare PTC in NYC, due to the fact he was being stalked. In an unrelated event, his son was shot and killed in an incident reported as a robbery. I believe the bad guy was a commie mafioso.

[FredsBank]

I watched the CNN interview and according to the interview, it seems Cosby is ok with guns in general for things like HD, but doesn't want to see people walking around with them because 'some' people become unstable.

It's hard to know how CNN has edited the interview or if I was seeing raw footage, so I have to take what he says at face value. While he does have some points that vaguely have some merit, I don't agree with his proposed solution of removing everyone's rights to self defense outside the home because of a few unstable people.

And he was really down on neighborhood watches. He thinks if you find something suspicious, you should run away and call the police. That's a good idea, but what if that 'something suspicious' turns on you before the police can get there? That possibility hasn't crossed his mind I guess. He thinks the police should be enough to protect you regardless of the circumstances.

Since his son was killed by a gunman, I would think he might support the right to carry as perhaps that could have saved his son's life? Not sure about that because I can't remember the details of the murder. It could be the opposite was true which is fueling his anti-self-protection stance.

[xd ED]

Excerpt from Wikipedia regarding the murder of Cosby's son:

On the evening of January 16, 1997, (Ennis) Cosby was on his way to visit his friend Stephanie Crane when his Mercedes Benz got a flat tire along Interstate 405, Los Angeles. He pulled his vehicle near the off-ramp on Skirball Center Drive and phoned Crane, explaining what had happened. Crane drove out to meet Cosby and focused the lights of her vehicle on the Mercedes's flat tire to illuminate it.
As Cosby was changing the tire, Mikhail Markhasev, a Ukrainian immigrant who worked at a nearby restaurant, approached the driver-side window of Crane's vehicle and pulled a gun on her. Crane sped 20–50 feet down the street then turned the vehicle around to retrieve Cosby; by the time Crane got back to Cosby's vehicle, he had been shot in the head, and Crane could see Markhasev running down the street. Crane was unable to describe the killer, except that he resembled a character in the film Dead Man Walking.

Interesting point about cnn 'editing' the Cosby conversation, especially in light of what nbc did to the Zimmerman 911 call recording.
OTOH, Given Bill Cosby's resources, and strong personality, he doesn't seem like someone to cross, or mis-represent.

[Squib Joe]

it seems Cosby is ok with guns in general for things like HD, but doesn't want to see people walking around with them because 'some' people become unstable.

There have always been unstable people carrying guns.

This is why I carry a gun of my own.

[Mdclinks]

Maybe Bill didn't ever hear Eddie Murphy's Raw but he should listen to what Richard Prior had to say. Why do people care what Bill Cosby has to say anyways? How is he even relevant anymore? Why would this even be news?

[FredsBank]

There have always been unstable people carrying guns.

This is why I carry a gun of my own.

Exactly.

I would say the person that shot Cosby might be called 'unstable'. And if Cosby and/or his lady friend had a gun of their own, the outcome might have been different that night.

[xd ED]

Maybe Bill didn't ever hear Eddie Murphy's Raw but he should listen to what Richard Prior had to say. Why do people care what Bill Cosby has to say anyways? How is he even relevant anymore? Why would this even be news?

if you read some of Cosby's writings and speeches, you'll find a staunch conservative, who's been frequently criticized for his "pull-your-pants-up, turn-your- hat-around, and-get out of bed before noon' message to 'victimized' black youth. Other than this gun remark, I agree with most of what I've heard.

[David]

I didn't watch the interview, but it was on the TV with the volume turned down while I was doing something else. I happened to look up at one point and saw the words: "Cosby: Racism isn't the problem, guns are," on the bottom of the screen. Sounds like a little "editing" right there.