In the wake of snipers killing five police officers and injuring another seven at an anti-police protest in Dallas, Texas, CNN used the occasion to point the finger at legal gun owners in Texas.
On Friday morning, CNN tweeted, “Texas has over 1 million handgun permit holders, with more than 57,000 in #Dallas County.” (RELATED: 3 Suspects In Custody After Snipers Kill 5 Officers, Wound 7 Others At Dallas Anti-Police Protest)
At the time of the tweet, #Dallas was trending in association with Thursday night’s ambush.
The accompanying article notes, “Of the 27.5 million people who live in this southern U.S. state, more than 1 million people are licensed to carry a handgun. (RELATED: Police: Dallas Suspect ‘Upset About Black Lives Matter,’ ‘Wanted To Kill White People’)
Dallas County has 57,620 licensees — the third highest number in the state, following Harris (139,563) and Tarrant (71,504) counties.”
Texas has over 1 million handgun permit holders, with more than 57,000 in #Dallas County https://t.co/PoVvPVIQBg pic.twitter.com/PA03016ypS
— CNN (@CNN) July 8, 2016
The CNN article then notes, “While Texans are required to have a permit to carry a handgun, they do not need one for rifles or shotguns — which may help explain the man at Thursday’s protest brazenly toting a long weapon. Texas is one of 45 states that allow some form of open carry. Only five states — New York, Florida, Illinois, South Carolina and California — and the District of Columbia ban open carry.”
Later, the article discusses new Texas laws that will allow individuals to conceal carry handguns on university campuses.