Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan’s NRA Convention dispatch is a gut-wrenching must-watch
Callaghan continues his hilarious, tragic documentation of America's deteriorating health
Aux Features Andrew Callaghan
After traveling unbidden to Ukrainian war zones back in April, we urged Andrew Callaghan’s Channel 5 news team to take some time off, perhaps even head to a (non-Miami) beach for some well-deserved rest and relaxation. For all we know, maybe they did heed our advice and schedule a vacation or two… but this is America, and if we’re good at anything right now, it’s completely derailing your plans with needlessly violent, wanton tragedy.
As such, Callaghan’s new dispatch from the recent, ill-timed NRA Convention in Houston literally three days after Uvalde’s elementary school shooting massacre is arguably his hardest hitting episode to date.
The 18-minute clip splits its time equally between the convention’s supporters and protesters, as well as Uvalde’s heartbreaking vigils held for the 19 children and 2 teachers killed by an 18-year-old wielding a legally purchased AR-15-style rifle. It’s a difficult but necessary watch, if you have the bandwidth—but don’t worry, Callaghan also managed to find a couple perfect court jesters/MyPillow enthusiasts to break up the crushing report.
Callaghan’s crew grants viewers a look at the NRA Convention’s various gallows displays—hype men tossing free ammunition into throngs of attendees, MAGA cardboard cutout fan art, and even a poorly staged concealed carry “fashion show” that verges on parody, were these people capable of the even barest minimum of self-reflection and awareness.
Meanwhile, many are still quick to defend assault weapon ownership, arguing that it’s the last line of defense against a tyrannical government… as if even a militia’s worth of good ol’ boys wielding AR-15s could possibly take on a hypothetically tyrannical nation’s $782 billion annual defense budget.
“Shooting an RPG is the ultimate Vegas Hooker Experience. It seems like a great idea at the time. It’s really, really expensive. And it’s over way too fast,” one rocket launcher sales rep (a real job, apparently) creepily mugs for the camera at one point. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, the same man alludes to the fact that his company put at least 30 of their RPGs into “civilian hands” recently. “People are enjoying them,” he declares.
Outside the event, protestors provide all the standard, sensible reasons why American gun worship continues to be a sick, sordid obsession that is virtually unthinkable in almost every other country in the world. Meanwhile, NRA attendees are happy to shriek their own counterarguments, doubling down on the “But what about abortions, huh??” retort, as if a person’s ethical, biological right to terminate their pregnancy for reasons of their own choosing amounts to bringing a machine gun to an elementary school and desecrating the bodies of children.
The “two” in Callaghan’s “one-two punch” of an episode then takes viewers to Uvalde, where residents attempt to mourn and comprehend such unthinkable losses. “You go to sleep seeing their faces. You wake up seeing their faces,” one of the school’s lunch workers tells us. “Unless it happens to one of their own, they’re not going to do anything,” another local explains.
It’s a lot to absorb, even for a nation where flying flags at half-mast is the new normal.
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91 Comments
Democrats need zero Republican votes to improve gun laws. They are choosing to do nothing because Democrats only care about getting paid under Biden, Obama, Clintons, Pelosi, and Schumer. They don’t care about saving lives or helping people.
LOL “defend against a tyrannical government”. These gun humping turds cannot even defend an elementary school from being shot up. My ass they are going to stand up to tanks and jets and trained members of the armed forces.
First of all: NRA Convention is gross.Secondly: First.But mostly gross.
Ah, first. That takes me back. Good times.
Mass shootings have overtaken the fatality rate of canceraids
That fashion show line of crotch holsters is surely going to lead to some fatalities……………………OF COCK!
It gives the marginalized, simple-minded and mass hysterical white America a feeling of having power and agency in an otherwise sad and delusional existence.
If someone had told young me that ‘rocket launcher sales rep’ was an actual job, my life would have taken a very different course.
Ever seen the movie Lord of War?
“So, you work for NASA?”“Well, no.”
I can’t believe dude actually said, “Why is ok to kill kids in the womb but not ok to kill kids in school?”So he’s either saying that since he’s not allowed to shoot up schools that women shouldn’t be allowed abortions, or he’s saying that since women can have abortions then he should be allowed to shoot up schools. Wild stuff.
to me the more surreal part is that he looks back at us like “wow, the libtards just don’t get it” with the same amount of anger that we give them. It’s like Bizarro World. This country will never be “united” again.
sounds like a good reason to split for good this time.
“So he’s either saying”You think you’re not playing their game, but you absolutely are.
You can tell he’s getting fed up with these people. He’s usually pretty good at letting people talk themselves into corners, but in this one his righteous fury bubbles under the surface with some of his questioning. He still holds it together, but man – that cut from the fashion show to the memorial is a gut-punch. We should all be very, very angry at these NRA idiots. Even when they make close to a salient point, it only takes a second before it turns ridiculous.
it’s always only a matter of time before they pivot to “it’s the families!” or “what about Chicago???” or other dog whistle deflections. Christ it’s infuriating to live in a country where the racist, batshit minority controls the chaos because the sane majority doesn’t have the balls to stand up to them.
My comment came to mind watching his inetraction with a man (3:39 in the video) who does exactly that: blames it on families, brings up Chicago, “never had these in my day” sort of shit. Usually Andrew lets people talk, but in that exchange he had to keep the guy on track, and not let him try to deflect to gang-related Chicago violence and all that. He typically doesn’t do that, which is why it was surprising to me!
I feel like he kind of felt sorry for the old man with the My Pillow boxes. The guy was obviously very mentally ill, and his belief that he was friends with Lindell was pretty sad.
I guess the Married News Team was unavailable. Too bad.
“Unless it happens to one of their own, they’re not going to do anything,” another local explains.Steve Scalise got pumped full of lead and returned to Congress so he could push back harder against gun control. Maybe they’ll see the light if it happens to them is a fantasy. A Republican’s kid could die in a school shooting and not only would they do nothing, it’s more likely they’d make the child into some twisted gun rights martyr.
I’m genuinely predicting that some day soon, a Republican presidential candidate will make a stump speech the day after 40 kids are gunned down and say “I don’t give a fuck about your stupid dead kids.” He will probably get elected, too.
It’s practically what got Trump elected. The GOP is looking for the next Homelander.
Their special brand of persecution complex means that even when hundreds of children lie full of holes, brains caved in with bullets, their first thought is “but what will the enemy do to try and take away my toys? Make me feel bad? How dare they.” They’ve already crossed the rubicon in so many ways, that this genuinely feels like the last one. They’re tired of feeling even 1% sheepish about all the dead kids, they’re just waiting for a Trump-like figure to rise up, finally say “fuck your kids, I’ll shoot them myself if it means honoring the constitution” and smirk in the face of the useless newsmedia.
Honestly, I’m just counting the days until some lawsuit to remove the strict limits on fully automatic guns.
You can already own various full-auto firearms in certain states.
Yet you have to jump through several hoops to get them. Can’t just go into walmart and pick one up.
A Republican’s kid could die in a school shooting and not only would they do nothing, it’s more likely they’d make the child into some twisted gun rights martyr.A parent of one of the children killed in Uvalde is a right wing, conspiracy theorist, gun loving, Trumper. There’s so much news about the shooting, I’m struggling to find it right now, but some of his posts AFTER the shooting were uh, not great.
Conspiracy theories about the shooter were swirling instantaneously, and it’s not surprising at all that a person would dig into their beliefs after a personal tragedy (nobody expects religious people to forsake religion if their children die – exactly the opposite, in fact). Which gets to the bigger point that terrible experiences are simply terrible, they aren’t necessarily transformative at a personal or cultural level. Transformation is an active process, and it’s up to people of conscience (regardless of their personal experiences) to help the process along.
“If only little Timmy was allowed to carry HIS AR-15 to school he would have never been killed by this evil lone wolf mass shooter”
Which is why some states will not increase the age of purchase but actually reduce or eliminate it. Gun manufacturers will quickly market downsized AR-15 style guns for little hands.
“Our schools should be surrounded by razor-wire, with multiple armed guards, steel-reinforced self-locking classroom doors, bulletproof glass, and a single, fortified entry acting as a choke point. For Freedom.”
“…And heaven-forfend the students have to wear a mask to school ever again. You can’t live your life in fear.”
Of course you need to make this about your God-given right to say a misogynistic slur
Ah, got him! I posted this specifically to troll you, recog, because I knew in your eternal quest to meet a woman on the internet you’d never let this slide.I love it when white suburbanite ‘Murricans like you try so desperately to appear progressive you end up showing your latent, unshakeable, and innate conservativism: you’re think you’re open-minded, but you’re so close-minded you can’t comprehend a world outside your narrow experience and you can’t help but lash out at that.It’s funny that you mentioned god – no one else did. And it’s even funnier that you’re completely ignored the fact that, y’know, your issue is with a gender-neutral swear word, but you’re fine with, well, children being slaughtered in their school. Interesting set of priorities there. You’re cool with child-murder, not cool with swears. Got it. By the way, you may wanna take a look at the victims: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-school-shooting-fourth-grade-teacher-killed-uvalde-elementary-rcna30426Notice a theme? They’re mostly women and girls. And mostly POCs. But you’re cool with that, because your inevitable slide into inceldom (look, we all know it’s coming: that performative pro-women schtick plays exactly the same as the Republican politician who campaigns on family values and then gets caught blowing a dude in an airport bathroom. Thou doth protest too much.)But hey. You’re cool with their deaths, because swears exist.
Lol this sad attempt at a strawman
Cunt?
I genuinely hope this is /s.
I mean, obviously Steve Scalise learned an important lesson: baseball players should always feel compelled to sport a gun belt and likely several ammo bandoliers. Ya know, For Freedom.
as if even a militia’s worth of good ol’ boys wielding AR-15s could possibly take on a hypothetically tyrannical nation’s $782 billion annual defense budget.
I’d avoid this angle of attacking gun nuts (there’s plenty others)A nation of men flabbergasted by a Stairmaster just drove out that very military after 20 years of failure.
I had a comment written out about this but I decided not to post it. I’ll just add to what you’re saying. Part of why the US is nearly impossible to invade is due to the number of guns in private hands. The quote “behind every blade of grass is a rifle…” attributed to Yamamoto (though there’s no evidence proving he actually said this) in reference to private US citizen takings up arms against a foreign invader, rings true to some extent.
Well sure, but also that anyone invading is would have to already be an American nation, none of whom have the military to invade us, or they’d have to move tens of thousands of troops, if not more, plus hundreds of thousands of tons of equipment to their ports, put them on God knows how many boats, and get those boats across and ocean, all without us noticing and picking them off as they make the voyage. Which is incredibly unlikely.
I’m fully aware of the impossible logistics that are required to invade the US. You definitely misunderstood the point I was making if you think that was the point I was trying to make.
Not really.“Part of why the US is nearly impossible to invade is due to the number of guns in private hands.”And part of what makes bananas a top crop globally is that you can cook chicken in its leaves, but that accounts for less than 0.01% of banana sales.
Lmfao, I guess I was tired and misread your comment.
Dude, we have nukes
No serious scholar attributes that quote to Yamamoto. No scholar has seen it in writing, and no one can cite it accurately.But to think that unorganized civilians with civilian-grade weaponry will stop this (fictional) nation that has already destroyed the entirety of the United State’s armed forces is some Rambo fantasy sh*t. These people are unreal.I’m sure it has been discussed, but it would be interesting to know when the NRA began selling the threat of invasion.
No serious scholar attributes that quote to Yamamoto. No scholar has seen it in writing, and no one can cite it accurately.No way dude! It’s like I literally pointed out there’s no evidence proving he said it.
OK dude! It’s like I was literally totally agreeing with you. Though I literally dont agree that it rings true, dude!
These folks think “Red Dawn,” (the 1984 version with Patrick Swayze and C. Thomas Howell and other luminaries) is a documentary. Wolverines!
These folksLol, I sure hope you’re not referring to me, since I don’t believe US citizens could successfully rise up against the government. If you are, then you failed to grasp the point I was making.
Calm down, man.
Wolverines!!!!/s
We are stronger than the next ten militaries COMBINED. We have massive ocean moats. We have neighbors so economically and socially entwined as to be the 51st and 52nd states. And they have weak militaries. This is the ultimate right wing gun not straw man
One tomahawk missile launched remotely from halfway around the planet and that whole rebel compound is ashes.
The problem with the argument is that, given a tyrannical government, the private citizens with guns will almost certainly provide overwhelming support for the tyrannical government. Fascists are all too happy to kill undesirables.
Not to mention that a large part of the reason that the Taliban was able to outlast the US was because the US was fighting across the world with limited public support and the world’s media watching them like a hawk for anything approaching heavy handedness.A tyrannical US Government would have no such concerns. No need to risk going house to house when you can just flatten rebel-sympathising settlements from the next state with all those fun toys.
I’ve argued this as well. We no longer have an objective definition of what a “tyrannical government” is (was there ever one? I dont know. Not really the point). GQPers would now *openly* welcome the overthrow of the Biden administration because they honestly believe it is traitorous.You are 100% correct.
The difference is the American Gravy Seals/Meal Team 6 types have ALOT to lose. They are all bluster talk and peacocking their weapons in Wal-Marts but when given the chance they instead chose to throw rocks and crowd control barriers.Deep down inside it’s all a bully’s scare tactic – we in the left need to punch them in the nose and shut them up. Metaphorically, of course, with votes.
Their enemy hasn’t been the US government in years, if it ever really was. It’s not Joe Biden. It’s not Bill Gates. It’s not even George Soros. It’s libs. Now, “libs” as defined here would be covering a pretty broad cross-section of people in their eyes (POC, feminists, LGBTQ, etc) but the general gist is: People who question and seemingly threaten their white Christian supremacy.The culture war is now demanding blood. It used to be “Dr. Suess is getting cancelled.” And now it’s “gay people want to steal your children.” This war doesn’t have tanks or drones or anything like that…no President will ever turn their guns on their own citizens and your Qanon uncle knows it, especially after he stormed the Capitol and emerged without a scratch. Instead, this war has internet-fermented cells of disgruntled homegrown terrorists trying to [redacted in case] government buildings or [redacted] synagogues and black churches.Anyway. Long, doomsaying rant aside, the point is this: Every time some fervent alt-right lunatic fantasizes about doing violent things to a billionaire bogeyman or politician, know that really, they’re talking about you.
Interesting to see political discourse in America physically confined to two separate “free speech zones” that just shout slogans back and forth.
Ironically this is exactly what “freedom” is in our country.
CIVILIANS. OWN. RPGS. I just can’t even with this place any more. Normally I would put an LOL because laughing is just how I deal with something so unbelievable no matter how dark or unsettling it is but wow, this place.
Idk how legal it is for a civilian who isn’t a registered dealer to own one, but it’s pretty crazy either way.
It isn’t cheap, that’s for sure.
You
need two things. First a vendor that can legally sell it to you. If you
obtain it from out of the country there may be import laws to deal
with. Maybe you can find a seller that already has an imported and legal
RPG system to sell. There is one US manufacturer of the RPG-7. However,
they don’t have any US distributors. As a one-off sale, they probably
aren’t going to bother with you. If you were buying a lot, you might be
able to convince them. You might also raise a lot of red flags.
Next
you need an NFA tax stamp for a destructive device. You’ll need to pay
$200, get fingerprinted, get a background check, and wait 10–12 months
for approval.It
might be easier to get an FFL manufacturer’s license for destructive
devices. RPGs aren’t terribly complicated and you could probably make an
RPG-2 or RPG-7 more easily than you could buy one.Once
that’s done, congratulations you have an RPG. That’s just the launcher.
Now rinse and repeat for the ammunition. Each individual round of
explosive ordnance is another $200 tax stamp.
the fact that it is *possible* is enough for me. Arguing for AR-15s is bad enough, but RPGs??? We can’t even find enough common ground in this country to state unequivocally that they should ONLY be in the hands of the military and not a bunch of SEAL team cosplayers? Un-fucking-believable.
It’s not. The amount of things you need to do to be able to own one is crazy. It’s not your right-wing Joe Blow neighbor who owns one.
I don’t know, you’re saying it’s my left-wing Joe Blow neighbor?
Believe it or not civilians can legally own RPGs (and automatic weapons) in most states so long as they follow NFA regs:https://www.nationalguntrusts.com/blogs/nfa-gun-trust-atf-information-database-blog/nfa-items-permitted-by-stateAnd RPG is considered a DD (Destructive Device) so you need a Class III Tax Stamp ($200) which initiates a year long waiting period and an extensive ATF background check. You have to have a clean criminal record and no history of mental illness. Some states require the same process for each grenade purchased as well. NFA weapons also have to be locked in a safe at all times when not in use and you can expect regular check ins from the ATF. In some states, if you have an FEL (Federal Explosives License) the waiting period is waived. I know Arizona is ridiculously permissive if you’re licensed. That’s why whenever Mythbusters did shows that involved machine guns or rocket launchers they were always at some private range in Arizona.
Jeezus.
a year long waiting period and an extensive ATF background check. You have to have a clean criminal record and no history of mental illness. Some states require the same process for each grenade purchased as well. NFA weapons also have to be locked in a safe at all times when not in use and you can expect regular check ins from the ATF.Call me crazy but these sound like pretty decent rules for any firearm ownership.
You don’t sound crazy at all. I think a year would be much for genuine hunting rifles (bolt actions) and minimum capacity shotguns, but handguns, certainly. And high capacity semi-auto rifles should just be banned outright.
I agree with you there 100%. I think if American’s want to bear arms for sport or home defense bolt action rifles and low capacity shotguns are what we should get. Anything other than that doesn’t make sense and/or needs much much stricter regulation.
“…no history of mental illness.”Real catch-22 there, what with ownership of an RPG being pretty clear proof of mental illness.
You know how you can get a license to marry people from the Church of Elvis?
That’s about how stringent some states’ firearm dealer registry laws are.
Good to know
They’re registered and require a federal license just like an automatic weapon. It’s a class III tax stamp (only $200) and requires a federal background check with the ATF.
Listen here. It’s my God given second amendment RIGHT to be able to hunt deer with a rocket launcher!! /s
Even Scalia pushed back at that a bit with the Heller decision, saying that the 2nd Amendment didn’t mean you could own absolutely any weapon you wanted and there was some power for the authorities to regulate this.
Well if the gubment come to take away my guns – those dudes have got tanks, so…
Tanks? I’d worry more about their ability to silently & invisibly vaporize me from a few thousand feet up via drone. Good luck defending yourself from that with an AR.
Yeah – I wasn’t really saying I think that. I’m a bleeding heart British liberal who has fired a shotgun at a clay pigeon. Once.
Obligatory by law
Why does noone ever ask why there are little to no black people at NRA conventions? or why you never see a black civilian carrying a firearm who isn’t a cop?I mean, black Republicans do exist.
Shhhh! Then they’d have to bring up that one time the NRA was very pro-gun control. You know that time the Black Panthers were exercising their second amendment right.
You’ve never seen a black person carrying? I live in the northeast and I’ve seen it countless times.
“Liberal” – people who want everyone to be healthy, happy, fed, employed (or supported if they cannot work), housed, and represented. That nutball at the beginning thinks these are the same people killing innocent children so we can justify taking his replacement penis. The more I hear them talk the more likely I am to feel like killing his sort. I do think maybe they should be rounded up and sent to reeducation camps for their own protection. Family members will happily turn in many of them. And Moronica? If the government wants to take anything from you, there’s nothing you will ever be able to do to counter their firepower. Dumbass. Brainwashed dumbass.
When the one parent starts playing Sweet Child O’ Mine it almost literally broke my heart.Andrew Callaghan and Channel 5 are doing some of the absolute best video journalism I’ve ever seen, and this piece is no exception (the fairly recent Trucker Convoy piece is also incredible).
The concealed carry fashion show is minor but is the stupidest thing to me. Like the whole thing about concealed carry is people dont see your gun.. so its a normal fashion show?
So a pediatrician from the Uvalde massacre said two of the children were decapitated and flesh torn away from their unidentifiable bodies; all that, from a man who literally looked at these kids and blew their heads apart/off.Meanwhile, doing NOTHING is the acceptable compromise for 2nd Amendment extremists?