Courtesy of MSNBC

On Friday, former congressman turned failed presidential candidate Joe Walsh (R) announced that he’s backing Parkland father Fred Guttenberg’s launch of “Dads for Gun Safety.” The timing of the launch coincides with Father’s Day and Jamie Guttenberg’s would-be high school graduation.

Guttenberg, who penned an open letter on the under the Brady United gun control banner, said he wants to see Congress pass a number of anti-Second Amendment bills, including universal background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, and red flag laws. He also wants Congress to provide funding for states to implement “community violence prevention programs” and the Senate to confirm President Joe Biden’s ATF pick, David Chipman.

To help launch his new gun control group, Guttenberg is asking one million Americans to sign onto his open letter in hopes Congress will take up his desired legislation.

When Walsh saw the tweet ten days ago, he said he disagreed with the Parkland father’s take on gun laws but appreciates Guttenberg’s activism and thanked him for pushing civilian disarmament.

Fast forward a few days and the pair appeared on MSNBC together to discuss the initiative. In the segment, Walsh agreed to sign onto the letter.

“I am so moved by what Fred is doing and we do disagree on some fundamental reforms. And Fred, I didn’t plan this at all. Mika and Joe, I didn’t plan this at all. Fred asked me a week ago to sign his ‘Dads for Gun Safety’ letter. Because I disagree with some of the gun control reforms that Fred’s advocating for, a week ago I said I won’t sign it,” Walsh explained. “Fred, I’d be happy to sign that letter. … Even though I disagree with some of the measures that you’re advocating for, this is a moment and you so profounding pushing this concept of ‘Dads for Gun Safety,’ I’d be honored to be a part of that.”

Walsh reiterated that position on Twitter:

At the end of the segment, Guttenberg explained the changes he wants to see.

“Executive action from President Biden alone won’t solve this but we do need to get Dave Chipman into the ATF. That’s number one,” Guttenberg said. “… number two, the Senate needs to do the bare minimum. This year is running out and it has to be this year. I don’t want to wait ’til another election year, to be quite honest. Pass background checks. Do it! Get it done. No more excuses. No more BS. Pass background checks. Pass safe storage. Do the things that up to 90 percent of the American people agree are reasonable.”

A couple of interesting things to note: Guttenberg relied heavily on “background checks” during his MSNBC segment, but didn’t note that A) background checks already exist and are required for all purchases from an FFL, B) universal background checks are about regulating private party transfers (predominantly between family members), and C) he wants an assault weapons ban or red flag laws.

If Walsh truly disagreed with the running list of gun control measures Guttenberg is pushing, why would he sign onto the letter? Because it’s nothing more than political pandering.

He calls it an act of bipartisanship but it’s not. Bipartisanship takes into account both sides and what their concerns and issues are. It means both sides are willing to compromise. And guess who always does the compromising where gun laws are concerned. That’s right. Gun owners.

Anti-gunners like Guttenberg seem to think gun owners and the firearms industry are doing absolutely nothing to promote gun safety and safe gun storage (which we all know is the furthest thing from the truth). In fact, the most successful gun safety program in the country is NSSF’s Project ChildSafe, which partners with local law enforcement agencies to provide free gun locks.

If these two want to see bipartisanship they should start with opposing David Chipman’s nomination to head the ATF. The nominee was part of the botched Waco raid – which both sides should take issue with – and is a registered gun control lobbyist.

Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.

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69 COMMENTS

  1. Yes…dads are supposed to teach gun safety [moms too]…take your children out shooting to do this…we dont need useless political hacks like these clowns..

    • My father was not really a gun guy, but when I showed an interest he pitched in to helped me buy my first 22 rifle from Sears and Roebuck (that I could have legally bought myself the day) and learn gun safety around 60 years ago. Many hundreds of thousands of rounds and many guns later (before the boating accident) I’m still here without a serious incident. That is all anyone needs to know or do about “gun safety”. In passing this is not only Father’s Day, but it was my dad’s birthday. He lived until just two months short of his 92nd and died, appropriately enough if you knew him, on April 16, tax day that year.

      • Joe Walsh developed an incredibly severe case of TDS a few years back.

        It wasn’t pretty, and it severely disfigured him, he has never been the same.

        We need more funding to combat this terrible sickness, TDS is an awful disease.

        Ask me how I know.

    • Joe Walsh… Never Trumper attention wh*re gasping for the oxygen of publicity as he fades into irrelevance.

      Right now he couldn’t win the elective office of dog catcher.

  2. Bipartisanship just means compromising your principles in surrendering to the D/S/C’s.

    • “Fred, you and I disagree on a number of specific gun control measures & policies. We probably don’t see eye to eye on the issue of guns”
      “I loved speaking with Fred this am. He & I disagree on numerous gun control measures. But I agreed to sign his #DadsForGunSafety letter in a spirit of bipartisanship.”
      Somewhere within these quotes, lies exist. How could any person have such disagreement and sign on in support of that which strongly opposes one’s views? Fence straddling in clear view.

  3. Spend time WITH your kids at the range. DON’T waste time AWAY from your kids doing things that further divide the nation and turning yourself into another tool of the left. This is not all that complicated.

    • learn to do what your kids have an interest in. It they want to launch rockets, go with them and support that. When parents(and all other adults in their life) reject their interests as “silly”, “stupid”, a waste of money, etc. You are disrespecting the person. He may not like model trains, fishing, or chess, etc.
      If you come 1/2 way, you may find that you do have interests in common and you will not be thought of as a domineering asshole that forced you out of the house at 17.

  4. “90 percent of the American people”… I still find it funny that leftist Obama era holdovers still trot out that line.

    A completely inaccurate, politicized, and unscientific, corporate media produced poll, that was “conducted” a decade ago. 10 years in American politics, might as well be ancient history.

    • You missed the weasel words “up to..” which means something as much as, but not more than, 90 percent. Because even they know that 100% agreement only happens in North Korean elections. So the true number could be 89%, or 1%, or zero.

    • If that 90% number were real and accurate then this country would never have had so much of an issue with the 2020 election. We don’t have a 90/10 anything about much of anything in this country. That is not all that hard to see.

  6. So the basic question is this: why be responsible? Why learn gun safety? Why be well-mannered and friendly? Why be law-abiding? Why eat well and exercise? Why raise your children to be responsible adults?

    Because it benefits not only you, but EVERYONE. You don’t accidentally shoot anyone, piss anyone off, chaos havoc, drive up health insurance costs, and perpetuate problems.

    When individuals aren’t responsible, everyone suffers, and the resulting societal breakdown and chaos prompts bug daddy government to step in. The only problem, big daddy government’s solutions lead to even more problems, and more crappy big daddy government solutions.

    Like gun control.

    But asking people to be responsible these days is a heinous social faux pas. Something big is going to break, and soon.

  8. Only difference is wishy washy joe’s white pointed hat is shorter than guttenberg’s.

    The question for all you “Dads” thinking about falling for such backdoor Gun Control crap is…Where will those deranged Jim Crow Gun Control zealots be to help should you and yours be cornered by a violent criminal? The answer is where Gun Control zealots always are…NOWHERE.

    • Debbie W. …….. ” I’m a dad but “- I support our Founding fathers Constitution and Bill of Rights. Anyone that doesn’t should not hold any type of public office or ever be in the military.

    • You are wrong in only one particular, Debbie: The anti-gun zealots won’t be “nowhere.” They will be somewhere…directly behind the violent criminals, giving them aid and encouragement.

  9. Sign on to measures that target crooks, gangstas, felons and other prohibited cretin. This is what we should stand FOR.

    Targeting only those who already obey laws and ordinances is ludicrous. Walsh and any other American who’d support crap like this should be subject to re-education training. Maybe spend 2 weeks inside Attica, or Joliet. Might learn who the real bad guys are…

  10. Maybe if Fred Guttenberg’s daughter did not attend a high school where they taped “gun free safe zone” signs to the doors as their primary security measure she would still be alive. Maybe if a few anonymous teachers/staffers were allowed to carry concealed weapons to protect themselves and students her daughter would still be alive. Maybe if the staff of the high school and school board did their job and had notified authorities of actually how dangerous the murderer was before he committed the heinous act his daughter would still be alive. Maybe if the FBI would have done their job but we all know about the FBI now and their agenda and priorities. But no, he wants to further infringe on the rights of us law abiding gun owners being delusional thinking that just somehow that would have saved his daughter’s life. But we all really know this is all about the effort to disarm and ultimately subjugate us using the dead bodies of school children and “feelings” to help that effort.

    • Guttenberg doesn’t want justice. He wants VENGEANCE and he doesn’t care who is punished.

    • Dont forget the leftist sheriff and his band of merry fools that knew about the nut job shooter and did nothing.

  11. Oh and “being a gun owner” does not mean squat in your regards and feelings about my Second Amendment Rights, just pitiful.

  12. Who cares what this bozo thinks? I’d never heard of him, and I had to look him up. He was elected for a 2-year term in the House, and ran against an incumbent Trump for the 2020 nomination. None of the proposals would have made an iota of difference had the all been in place before the MSD High School shooting — Guttenberg’s daughter would still have been killed. How about a law to not allow officials to take no action after dozens of complaints against a person, and to remove their immunity in cases of such gross incompetence?

  13. We already have ‘community violence prevention programs’ – it’s called jail. Lock up all these criminals, don’t let them plea bargain, give them the maximum sentence, make them wear pink underwear and pink prison jumpsuits, and give them baloney sandwiches for their meals.

  14. I’m a dad 8 times over and I say they can both f off. Teach your kids to be responsible people but take no shit from leftist assholes and this country will be a better place . Happy fathers day to all.

  15. Kinda like when a “news” personality demands restrictions on speech. Eh, why not? We have Catholics demanding abortion be accepted by their church. One wonders why they stay with the church if they so disagree but whatever. Faith has become just another accoutrement to hashtag on your social media anyway. So goes the BoR with these narcissist fascists.

  16. What a wanker. I genuinely wish ill on Walsh and his ilk, those” friends” always willing to throw us under the bus over” feelings”…and Guttenberg ,my sympathy for his loss is overcome by his contemptible exploitation of the murder of his daughter in pursuit of making more people vulnerable, dependant and subservient.
    On this Father’s Day, I happily call him a hypocrite,and a Bad Father casually pimping her corpse in the furtherance of an antithetical agenda

    • Rather than celebrating, Fred Guttenberg will be whoring his dead daughter’s memory to evil totalitarians and working with them to spread misery to all Americans. For the love of all that’s decent, please…let her rest, Fred.

  17. Here’s Joe Walsh literally admitting that he stands for nothing, and he thought he could be the president? It looks like he’s kissing someone’s a$$ that he supposedly disagrees with just so he could go on television and virtue signal. How pathetic.

  18. Sorry your kid is dead Fred. I didn’t kill her. You COULD blame the idiot who sold the deranged Cruz cretin a gat. Or the cowardly cop.But you’re not. JoeWalsh: The smoker you drink the player you get…fade into obscurity doofus.

  19. Walsh should just leave the Republican party. It is clear he no longer supports its ideals.

  20. Mass shootings don’t happen ever in the countries of Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Communist China. Why is that? [Hint – it has something to do with “gun laws”]

  21. F your “bipartisanship” Walsh, you absolute tool. Guttenberg’s idea of bipartisanship only goes one way. And F you too, Guttenberg. I didn’t kill your daughter. I’m not giving up a g damn thing because of what some criminal did.

    So sick of this constant left wing assault on my rights based on things I had nothing to do with.

  22. Fred and Joe,
    Here’s my anti-endorsement.
    Signed,
    Dick Gōzinya
    Past president of F. O. A. D.

  23. We’ll, I’m a gun owner, but…

    I wish I could buy more machine guns at pre-1986 prices!

  25. FUCK “Dads for gun safety” and DOUBLE TRIPLE FUCK David Chipman. In fact, fuck’em all.

  26. The Libertarians Liberals and the Left, the atheist the sexually liberated. They have all said it. They hate the traditional nuclear family. They have done everything possible to harm the traditional family structure in the United States. They disagreed with the Christians. When the Christian said a father is necessary in the family unit.

    This is just the latest example. A father is now saying that the government should control guns and limit access to guns. Instead of that father taking responsibility for the safety of his family.
    It’s one thing for a man to have to leave the family, so he can provide food and other resources to take care of them. By going on a long hunt or traveling to a place of employment. But it’s quite another when the government laws known as Jim Crow, are used to make life more difficult for the traditional American family. And gun control in the 21st century, is just the latest example Jim Crow being still alive and kicking.

    They remove the father from the family. And replaced him with a welfare check. And they replaced the father’s guns, with the guns of a big city police department. They removed the love and the discipline that the father provided. And they wonder why there is so much violence in certain neighborhoods, in certain cities in the United States?

    I think some of them know exactly why there’s violence. And that is why they continue to support a single mother having five children from 5 different men. And the mother never getting married.

  27. Exactly how would a “universal background check” be enforced? This is nothing but a blatant attempt at a national gun registry. Any person fool enough to go to a FFL, and ask them to run a background check on a private gun sale deserves to lose his freedoms. This would strictly have to be voluntary. Criminals will not take this action.

    Chris T in KY , you have hit the nail directly on the head. Thanks for such a well though out analysis.

    And yes, I lost all my guns in a boating accident last weekend.

  28. walsh was on am radio for years. mostly ranting and raving, it was painful to listen as he became more and more deranged.
    trump finally caused him to snap.
    inanity at this point.

  30. Embracing even a portion of any Anti 2A Platform, demonstrates Hypocrisy and contributes to the misinformation campaign the Totalitarians seek to infringe upon us.

    Buying into any part of their certifiably Obfuscations does more harm than good.
    20,000+ Gun Laws on the books, and not a single law has prevented or impacted Criminal Firearm’s Use or Crime.

  31. Another uninformed/uneducated [idiot(?)].
    The gun industry is extremely sensitive about gun safety!
    I personally (as a volunteer and as a paid instructor) have been teaching Hunter Safety for over 50 years, and I have also been teaching marksmanship and safety for just as long.
    WHERE IS THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY? All I see on TV is ads showing cars going faster, LESS safe acts, tearing up the environment, …………
    Our Constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. School systems teach “Driver Education,” a PRIVELEGE – NOT A RIGHT, while they scorn guns.
    MANY (PUBLIC) HIGH SCHOOL SYSTEMS USED TO HAVE RIFLE CLUBS. …. Just TRY to sponsor or participate in a rifle club in a school now-a-days.
    YOU WANT FIREARM SAFETY? HOW ABOUT STARTING IN THE SCHOOLS AGAIN.

  32. Rather than total disarmament, which is what the gun grabbers want, why not teach basic gun safety in about 3rd grade, with a more hands on course in the 8th grade? I am no fan of the NRA, but they do have a very good safety program for kids available. I’m sure they would be happy to provide, at a profit, the information and materiel.
    Next is the “Universal Background Check”. In many of the mass murder incidents, the shooter passed the background checks and purchased their weapons legally. And, with no follow up on failed checks, how do you propose to stop anyone from getting a firearm if they really want too? Those who fail, or never bother with the background checks just do what the rest of the criminals do. Buy on the black market or steal their guns.
    Ban of assault weapons… How do you ban what you can’t define, or does not exist? My definition of an assault weapon is any weapon used to physically assault someone. Could be anything from a fist, or a rock, to the latest wonder gun on the market.
    The DOD defines an assault weapon as an intermediate caliber rifle or carbine with select fire, full automatic, or burst fire capabilities. Very few firearms of that description are in civilian hands. The few that are, are expensive and a royal pain to get the transfer papers pushed through to change hands.
    Walsh, along with the rest of the anti gun idiots are living in a fantasy world if they believe anything they propose will stop 1 criminal or nut case from doing the, for a sane person, unthinkable. The only people affected or disarmed by any of the existing restrictions or bans, as well as anything proposed are those who are not going to ever be a problem. The fools are just useful idiots for those who would destroy the country and eliminate our Constitutional rights altogether.

  33. avatar It's my Party, and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to! You would cry too if it happened to you.

    Correction to this article.
    The article implies he’s a Republican, as it calls him “Joe Walsh (R)”.
    Joe Walsh left the Republican Party in February 2020.
    Since February 2020, he has been an Independent.
    I’ll leave it to others to discuss his reasons for leaving the Incredible Shrinking Party. Let’s just say it’s time for the party to stop shrinking and start growing again, as it’s now down to only about 20% of the American people. In 2015, only 25% of Americans were Republicans, but that was before Trump. (Wikipedia: “According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 25% of Americans identify as Republican”). Now, the Republican Party is probably only 20% of the American people. We need to start growing the party again, by ditching the whining loser who single-handedly turned the Republican Party into the Incredible Shrinking Party. We can’t let the entire Republican party be subservient to a whining loser six-times-bankrupt two-times-divorced Florida Man blogger, or the party will never win another election.

  34. The two of you show what we need to go back to- having respectful discourse on important issues. It’s alright to disagree on key issues but we need not treat people with differing ideas as enemies. Your friendship has given me hope that we can do this. Thank you for actually seeing each other.

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