By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A Florida sheriff was taking some criticism from NBC News, which asserted in its headline that he went on “a wild rant against gun laws” during a press conference Friday morning while announcing the arrest of two suspects in the murders of three teens in his county.
The sheriff’s news conference may be viewed here.
But Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods is also getting support from a major gun rights organization, which said his remarks were “absolutely right.” The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) lauded the sheriff for holding criminals accountable, rather than guns, for the crimes they commit.
Sheriff Woods, backed by several other officers, told reporters, “There are individuals out there viewing, and (that) includes some of you (in the) media, who want to blame the one thing that has no ability or the capacity to commit the crime itself, and that’s the gun. These individuals committed the crime.”
After being advised that the gun allegedly used in all three murders was stolen out of a car, Sheriff Woods subsequently stated, “All the gun laws we got in place didn’t prevent it, did it? Neither will any new ones. Because here’s the fact: The bad guy is going to get a gun no matter what law you put in place.”
Woods appeared on Fox News at midday, talking about the investigation.CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb criticized NBC for describing Woods’ remarks as a “wild rant.”
“If anyone is guilty of going off on a rant, it’s NBC News,” he said.
The arrests came more than a week after the suspects—all three juveniles—allegedly shot 16-year-old Layla Silvernail, 16-year-old Camille Quarles and an unnamed 17-year-old boy, according to Fox News. Two of the suspects, ages 17 and 12, were arrested and their 16-year-old alleged accomplice was still being sought.
Authorities later found Silvernail’s car abandoned in a pond, with a body in the trunk.
Gun control has been in the news for the past two weeks in the aftermath of the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee which left six victims dead including three 9-year-old students. Anti-gun Democrat lawmakers in several states have pointed to the Nashville shooting to support their state gun control packages. Restrictions are under consideration in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, California and Washington.
“Evidently,” Gottlieb said, “some in the media can’t stand the truth. When they quoted Sheriff Woods, some reports deliberately omitted his reference to the media among those wanting to blame the gun. The sheriff got it right, and the establishment media knows it. The terrible crime in his county which left three teens dead was committed by individuals, not a gun, and it is time for the anti-gun press and the gun prohibition lobby to admit it.”
Fox News noted the sheriff “slammed” society in general and school districts, “and gun law rhetoric.”
“We do not hold our juveniles accountable. We minimize their actions,” Woods said during the Friday conference.
