Rupert Murdoch Gun Control Tweet VS. Mike Huckabee 'God' Comment
News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch's gun control support, namely to ban automatic weapons, on Twitter following the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, has put him at odds with his members of his staff at Fox News.
"Terrible news today. When will politicians find courage to ban automatic weapons? As in Oz after similar tragedy," Murdoch wrote in a Twitter Friday.
Following President Barack Obama's address on the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Murdoch again took to Twitter to express his views on gun control: "Nice words from POTUS on shooting tragedy, but how about some bold leadership action?"
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The media mogul's stance has put him in stark contrast with the position advocated on Fox News and those on his payroll.
Fox News host and former Gov. Mike Huckabee has spoken out against gun control laws after the shooting in Connecticut, which claimed the lives of 26 people.
"People want to pass new laws... but this is a heart issue, laws don't change this kind of thing," Huckabee said on Fox News.
Huckabee suggested that the reason behind such mass shooting is the removal of faith and God from public schools.
"We ask why there's violence in our schools, but we've systematically removed God from our schools," Huckabee said. "Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?"
Another frequent guest on Fox News, conservative pundit Ann Coulter also differed with Murdoch on the issue of gun control.
On Friday, Coulter posted on Twitter: "Only one policy has ever been shown to deter mass murder: concealed-carry laws … more guns, less mass shootings."
This is not the first time Murdoch has used social media to advocate for tighter gun control. Back when the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, took place, Murdoch used Twitter to write:
"We have to do something about gun controls. Police license okay for hunting rifle or pistol for anyone without crim or pscho record. No more."
The Sandy Hook shooting left 20 children and six adults dead. Police believe 20-year-old Adam Lanza used a semi-automatic weapon to shoot victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. Authorities say he had first killed his mother at her home and drive her car to the school where he proceeded to shoot students and staff in two classrooms before fatally shooting himself.
President Obama has not directly mentioned gun control but has made a subtle reference to it in his speech at the prayer vigil Sunday in Newtown.
