CBS/AP Help Push Self-Defense Coverage for Lawful Gun Owners as "Murder Insurance"

If you want to understand why the media is so distrusted by Americans, then looking at CBS’s report about the NRA’s attempts at helping those with legal bills after they lawfully use their firearm in self-defense is a perfect example.

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On Thursday, CBS released an Associated Press report detailing “Guns Down,” a gun-control group, whose stance on the NRA’s “Carry Guard” is that it’s actually “murder insurance.”

AP interviewed Igor Volsky, a guy who likes to paint the NRA as racist, and claimed the NRA was pushing this insurance by scaring NRA members into thinking a brown person was going to get them at any moment.

“The reason I call it murder insurance is because if you look at the way this is marketed, it’s really sold in the context of ‘There’s a threat around every corner, dear mostly-white NRA member,’ and that threat is either a black man or a brown man or some other kind of person of color,” said Volsky.

CBS didn’t bother to interview anyone from the NRA about the insurance plan but did rely on a report from the Associated Press who said the insurance companies the NRA uses for Carry Guard, Lockton Affinity and Chubb, could not provide data on policies sold or claims filed.

AP also highlighted that the NRA, nor the insurance companies required safety courses to purchase the insurance, but did encourage it at a price.

“The NRA insurance doesn’t require policyholders to take any safety or tactical training courses but encourages them to do so. Initial training courses cost $850 per student for a three-day session,” reported AP.

Outside of this, the talking point that this kind of insurance would or could encourage those who buy it to “shoot first and ask questions later” was repeated in three different ways by biased interviewees, including Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, who is working with Guns Down. Fulton claimed that this insurance makes it easier to “get away with murder.”

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What CBS is neglecting to tell you is that the Carry Guard insurance only pays out if you’re found innocent, and your use of your weapon falls into the category of self-defense. By its own rules, it cannot be “murder insurance” as AP/CBS’s quoted gun control advocates like to claim. Murder would disqualify you from coverage. Why CBS or AP don’t point that out should immediately raise questions about the report itself.

“I’ve seen some very bad gun journalism in recent weeks but this one takes the cake. The Associated Press and CBS News uncritically publish falsehoods about how the program they’re covering works or how it has been promoted,” said Washington Free Beacon Staff Writer Stephen Gutowski, who primarily covers gun policy.

“Additionally, they have no comment from the organization accused of promoting racism and murder in their piece and no note that they even attempted to get comment from them,” noted Gutowski.

Since neither CBS nor the Associated Press reaches out to gun-advocates for comment — as Gutowski pointed out — RedState did.

NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch threw a large monkey wrench into CBS and AP’s gears over the argument that insurance would embolden gun owners to become wild west gunslingers who fire their weapon at the first sign of offense.

“Insurance doesn’t embolden people’s behavior. You don’t suddenly drive recklessly because you have auto insurance. By CBS’ logic we should do away with health and car insurance,” Loesch told RedState. “Self defense is a human right, but sadly, in our litigious society, criminals can and do sue their victims and prosecutors against self-defense can file charges for political purposes.”

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“Carry Guard is insurance for good people who do the right thing,” added Loesch. “We need to stop impugning the character of good people based on political grievances.”

Tim Schmidt, Founder & President of the United States Concealed Carry Association also noted that plans like Carry Guard are used solely for those who use self-defense.

“If you were protecting your family and were forced to shoot an attacker, that’s called self-defense. The US Concealed Carry Association provides the most comprehensive, insurance-backed, self-defense protection benefits to its members.”

 

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