Mike Spies: I’m A Journalist, Whether Or Not You Like It, The Only Thing That Works Is Taking Guns Away
Mike Spies, a staff writer for “The Trace,” a publication that investigates gun violence, appeared on MSNBC on Wednesday to discuss the shooting of children attending Mass at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. “I’m a journalist,” Spies told MSNBC host Katy Tur. “Whether or not you like it, the only thing that really works, if you really wanted to bring down gun violence, was to do what Australia did and to do what many other countries in Europe do. I realize I will get so much hate mail over this. People will tell me that I’m a communist and all these other things. And I’m so terrible, which also only reinforces the point as I as I will definitely get, you know, some sort of like…” “Blowback,” Tur jumped in. “Not just blowback, but like threatening blowback, which is to say like these people like you are supposed to be so law-abiding or so quick to tell me that, like, you know, I ought to die or whatever else it is,” Spies said.
KATY TUR: Despite the numbers that you’ve pointed out, and you pointed out them a little bit earlier, the majority of Americans don’t own guns, and the majority of Americans want stricter gun laws. MIKE SPIES, ‘THE TRACE’ STAFF WRITER, ‘ROLLING STONE’ CONTRIBUTOR: Right, right. I mean, I guess it’s a matter of what gets prioritized at the polls, which is to say, I mean, I suppose people think that other things are more important, that’s what they vote on first. But I do think that there’s a lack of, honestly, a lack of knowledge among lawmakers. I think the same playbook has been enforced since background checks were first introduced in the 90s and the assault weapons ban. We kind of always go back to those things, instead of thinking of new ideas and also being honest that, for example, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which we were talking about earlier, if I’m going to be totally frank and honest, was a pretty worthless bill. KATY TUR: We had Chris Brown on from Brady, who was arguing that that was actually a very big deal. MIKE SPIES: No, it was a feel-good bill. It is valuable on the margins. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t talk about red flag laws, which allow a person to petition a court to have guns taken from their loved one temporarily. But that’s like such an abdication of responsibility. That, again, puts the issue back on regular people to police their loved ones, which isn’t really appropriate. I think it’s either like you have to be honest and say what will actually work, which is what nobody wants to hear, which is that there are just simply way too many firearms and they’re way too accessible. And even if they aren’t. And they’re too powerful. And they’re too powerful. Even handguns, too. Again, that’s why in Australia, it doesn’t matter if it’s not politically acceptable to say it. I’m not here as a politician or anyone who works in politics. I’m a journalist. Whether or not you like it, the only thing that really works, if you really wanted to bring down gun violence, was to do what Australia did and to do what many other countries in Europe do. I realize I will get so much hate mail over this. People will tell me that I’m a communist and all these other things. And I’m so terrible, which also only reinforces the point as I as I will definitely get, you know, some sort of like — KATY TUR: Blowback. MIKE SPIES: Not just blowback, but like threatening blowback, which is to say like these people like you are supposed to be so law-abiding or so quick to tell me that, like, you know, I ought to die or whatever else it is. KATY TUR: Or you better watch out. MIKE SPIES: Right.
