NRA Called the New KKK – Fair Comment or Outrageous Statement?

Since last weekend's murder/suicide committed by Kansas City Chiefs starting linebacker Jovan Belcher, the issue of gun control has been brought back into the forefront of commentary.

According to an article on Examiner.com, NBC Sports commentator Bob Costas was the first to be criticized by gun rights advocates for his diatribe against gun ownership during halftime at a Cowboys-Eagles. But a Saturday column by Fox Sports commentator Jason Whitlock, that Costas used as a piece of reference, went much further. And it didn’t end there. Whitlock backed it up going on to call the National Rifle Association “the new KKK" (Ku Klux Klan).

“I did not go as far as I’d like to go because my thoughts on the NRA and America’s gun culture,” Whitlock wrote, according to Examiner.com. He then reportedly went on to say, “I believe the NRA is the new KKK. The arming of so many black youths, and loading up our community with drugs, and then just having an open shooting gallery, is the work of people that obviously don’t have our best interests.”

What do you think about these statements? Are they fair comments based on the situation or outrageous statements that he should apologize for?

A Dacula Patch user, Brian Crawford, wrote:

I thought Whitlock's original column, which really had more to to with whether the KC game [Editor's note: Chiefs-Panthers game that was played the following day, 12/2/12] should have been played in light of the Belcher tragedy, was spot on. I thought his additional "KKK" comments during the Roland Martin interview were thought provoking as well and not at all outrageous in the context of what goes on in any poor Chicago neighborhood on a Saturday night.

The NRA has proven itself over and over to be an irresponsible organization dedicated to maximizing the profits of gun sellers regardless of the toll it's activities take on the fabric of our society.

On the other hand I found the Examiner.com piece highly inflammatory and believe they owe Whitlock an apology for calling him an "ignorant bigot".

Tell us what you think in the comment section below.