Last night, NBC News reported on the Philadelphia police seizing a “massive arsenal of weapons” from an allegedly suicidal 72-year-old man’s home.
The man, who has been hospitalized, had at least 39 guns, multiple grenades and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition, according to police. https://t.co/YATcJbSRv9
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 30, 2019
More:
Police who were responding to a report of a suicidal man Wednesday discovered a cache of weapons which included firearms, grenades and ammunition inside the man’s home.
Quite The Cache. Our @NBCNightlyNews story tonight: Massive arsenal of weapons seized at Philadelphia man’s home https://t.co/y3SCBm5dVa via @nbcnews
— Miguel Almaguer (@Miguelnbc) August 29, 2019
Yes, “quite the cache.” Thank goodness the man was stopped before he went on a shooting rampage and blew up a bunch of people with his grenades. Perhaps no one is more grateful than firearms expert Stephen Gutowski:
The "grenades" were inactive and not dangerous in any way. I guess we're just going to smear this man who is reportedly not a threat to anyone but himself because he collected firearms? And the plan is now to destroy potentially tens of thousands of dollars of his property? https://t.co/NstdZUdz5M
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
39 guns is an above-average collection but really not that big. If you count 22lr, then I probably have 2,000 rounds of ammo in my gun bag right now. But most big-city reporters act like 3 guns and 100 rounds is some sort of arsenal anyway.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
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And thank goodness NBC News was around to give this story — and the man — the national attention it so clearly deserves.
This man committed exactly zero crimes and there's exactly zero indication that he was a threat to anyone other than (maybe) himself but NBC News decided this was national news because, I guess, they think this man should be shamed for collecting firearms? This is gross.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
Frankly, this is the kind of ignorant crap that makes people hate the media. They treated this 72-year-old man like a criminal and a crazy person because collects guns. Literally, the only thing we know about him is his family was concerned he was suicidal and he owned guns.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
He wasn't charged with a single crime. Noone even suggested he'd committed a crime. Is this how we're going to treat potentially suicidal people? Shame them on national television for collecting guns? This is disgusting. What the hell were you thinking @NBCNightlyNews?
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
Shame on the Philadelphia Police Department for implying this man was some sort of criminal for simply owning firearms. They didn't find any evidence of a crime and didn't charge him with a crime but gladly went on TV to imply he was some kind of criminal anyway.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
This is how the police and media treat a potentially suicidal elderly person? All because he legally-owned guns? Disgustingly ignorant crap.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
The only difference between this potentially suicidal elderly man and any other suicidal person is that he had a gun collection. There's no evidence he broke any laws or threatened anyone. But his mental health struggle is worthy of criminal treatment on @NBCNightlyNews?
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
Why did you it was appropriate to shame this potentially suicidal elderly man on national television? He has committed zero crimes and there's zero suggestion he's a threat to anyone else. Why did you treat him like a criminal on national television? What is your goal? https://t.co/QYguOKnQRF
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
I'm livid. This man is potentially suicidal and NBC runs a story on the national news demonizing him despite him doing literally nothing criminal at all? How can a news outlet do something so irresponsible and so abhorrent? What is your justification, @miguelnbc?
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
The way @nbcnightlynews smeared this clearly non-public figure is, at the very least, completely unethical. They should apologize for what they've done to this elderly man. They've likely worsened his suicidal condition by shaming him on national television for NO REASON AT ALL.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
Helluva job, NBC News. We’re all a lot better off thanks to you.
Destroying a collection it took him years to acquire while publicly painting him as a dangerous lunatic should help with his depression.
— matt earnest (@mattbearnest) August 30, 2019
This will cause people who need treatment to hide their illness and contribute to suicide rates. If this man was a possible threat to himself before he will be a definite threat to himself after being humiliated like this. Great job, @NBCNightlyNews!! https://t.co/GrO8bJgN6G
— Heather (@hboulware) August 30, 2019
Red Flag Laws will be awesome.
— "Avoid the green ones. They’re not ripe yet." (@anewjusta) August 30, 2019
If there is a reason that red flag laws won't work, it's going to be
1) over-zealous enforcement
2) (this is is is really key) a media that takes stories like this one and makes them national news b/c they do not know shit about guns https://t.co/zr6arYcXAn— PoliMath (@politicalmath) August 30, 2019
Look.
If the guy was really dangerously suicidal, then maybe it's good to reduce his access to guns *temporarily* (which is the point of red flag laws).
But if you make this potential suicide a national story, this is not going to work.
This requires ethical reporting.— PoliMath (@politicalmath) August 30, 2019
Ethical reporting? Well, that leaves NBC News out.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.
***
Update:
Well, @miguelnbc blocked me. Here was the justification he gave for why @NBCNightlyNews decided to demonize a suicidal elderly man on national television for the offense of legally-owning guns. This is shameful behavior from a reporter at any outlet let alone one with NBC's reach pic.twitter.com/7rsKq2HLhb
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
It was ok for @NBCNightlynews to make an elderly man in the middle of a mental health emergency into a pariah on national television because they didn't name him. They showed his house and his neighborhood but they didn't name him so it's ok! Really ethical stuff.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
This isn't misunderstanding how guns or gun laws work. This isn't editorializing some gun control bill. This is demonizing a suicidal man on national television for no reason other than he legally-owned guns. This is far worse than what we normally see.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 30, 2019
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