Pat Sajak Mocks Gun Control Arguments: ‘Ban Sleds Now!’
Pat Sajak, host of Wheel of Fortune, can occasionally be outspoken on political issues, and gun control is one of those. It’s been a major public conversation since the Sandy Hook murders, after which President Obama promised to do what he could to improve gun control, with or without Congress.
The latest controversy in gun control is, of course, the recategorization of 5.56 NATO green-tipped M855 ball ammunition as armor-piercing ammo. This would, effectively, ban these rounds, without having to pass new legislation, since recategorization doesn’t require Congress to act — only for the ATF to make the decision.
The debate over this change has spurred new comments from the White House press secretary Josh Earnest, who said Monday that President Obama supported this as a common-sense gun control measure.
It’s likely this statement that spurred Pat Sajak’s newest commentary, a satirical tweet comparing gun deaths to sledding injuries, although, notably, Obama would not have to sign any legislation for this change, with or without Congress.
20,000 sledding accidents annually! President must act with or without Congress! Ban sleds now! #DoItForTheChildren
— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) March 6, 2015
Sajak is no stranger to political commentary in his tweets — he’s recently addressed climate change, net neutrality, Hillary Clinton’s email issues, and in one tweet, both the politicians who avoided Netanyahu speech, and an early misstatement from then-campaigning Barack Obama. Speaking of Obama, jabs at him aren’t exactly infrequent in Sajak’s tweets.
Reducing CO? today by breathing one less time per minute. If we all do it, we can make a difference. #ClimateMondays
— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) February 23, 2015
Government proposing new Internet rules, but don’t worry. If you like your Internet, you can keep your Internet.
— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) January 13, 2015
Anyone have Hillary Clinton’s gmail address?
— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) March 3, 2015
At last count, 57 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu speech. That’s an average of one per state.
— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) March 3, 2015
For the most part, political or otherwise, the game show host’s tweets are humorous, rather than rants, but he manages to express some strong opinions just the same. Of course, strong opinions always manage to offend someone, and Sajak vowed that he’d try not to do that this year.
Resolving not to tweet anything that will offend anyone in 2015. Might have to close account.
— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) December 29, 2014
Oops. That resolution might have already gone out the window.
On the other hand, Pat Sajak’s statement may not be as satirical as it appears: according to Scholastic, many cities are banning sledding (without the help of either President Obama or Congress) for exactly the reason he states.
[Photo by: Doug Benc/Getty Images]
