Oh boy. Here we go again. CNN is back at it — this time with their “senior justice correspondent” Evan Perez confidently misinforming millions of viewers about how guns actually work. Because why bother with facts when there’s panic to be stirred and narratives to be pushed?
Now, let’s get something straight right out of the gate — and don’t blink, or you might miss CNN’s latest train wreck. During coverage of a tragic school shooting in Minneapolis, Perez told America that semi-automatic firearms can shoot “dozens of bullets” with a single pull of the trigger. Yes, you read that right. Dozens. One pull. Boom. Magic gun.
Except… that’s not how anything works. At least, not anything outside of Hollywood or CNN studios.
And he said it with such confidence. That’s the part that’ll get you. Like it was obvious. Like we were all just supposed to nod along, clutch our pearls, and demand the government come pry these fictional super-weapons from the hands of law-abiding citizens. No hesitation, no clarification, just wrong.
Of course, this wasn’t buried in some back corner of the broadcast. No, Perez made the claim right in prime time, on The Situation Room. His co-host had just repeated secondhand info from a local witness describing what sounded like a standard semi-auto rifle — one that had to be reloaded. But Perez? He skips right past reloading. Skips logic. Skips federal law. And goes straight to: “Dozens of bullets in one trigger pull.”
Let that settle for a second. The “senior justice correspondent” at a major network — a network that bills itself as a serious, fact-based news outlet — apparently doesn’t know the difference between a semi-auto and a machine gun.
Or worse… maybe he does know. And said it anyway.
See, that’s the trick with media manipulation — it doesn’t require shouting “ban guns!” every two minutes. It’s more subtle. You repeat falsehoods often enough, in just the right emotional context, and suddenly your average viewer starts thinking maybe their neighbor’s AR-15 is a battlefield weapon from a Rambo movie. Mission accomplished.
It’s all about the emotional priming. A school shooting. Children. Chaos. Tragedy. And right as the viewer is gripping the armrest in fear, Perez delivers the goods: “dozens of bullets… one trigger pull.” No citation. No technical explanation. Just pure, raw fear.
And CNN? Silent. No correction. No clarification. No retraction. Because they know their audience doesn’t check gun specs on the NRA’s website. They know most people won’t pause and Google how a semi-auto actually works. They know the emotional damage is done.
It’s all part of a pattern — say something scary, something wild, something just false enough to slip under the radar — and let the panic do the rest. Rinse, repeat, legislate.
But here’s what they won’t say: Federal law already bans unregistered fully-automatic weapons. You can’t just stroll into a gun shop and buy an M16 like you’re picking up milk. And yet, every time there’s a tragedy, they roll out the same misinformation, same buzzwords — “assault-style,” “high capacity,” “military-grade” — hoping nobody notices the details are fiction.
The truth? A semi-automatic firearm fires once per trigger pull. Just like your granddad’s hunting rifle. It’s not a machine gun. It’s not some mythical weapon that fires endlessly until the trigger gets tired. It’s a common tool, owned by millions of law-abiding Americans, who are sick and tired of being smeared as threats every time someone in the media wants a ratings bump.
And maybe that’s the point. Not to inform. But to inflame.
Because when it comes to CNN’s coverage of guns, facts are optional — but fear? Fear is mandatory.
