Jon Stewart brightly mocks the NRA for opposing freedom of gun choice

(Image credit: Daily Show)

Jon Stewart started out Tuesday night's Daily Show by gently suggesting to open-carry gun-rights activists that parading their loaded assault weapons into, say, Chipotle restaurants might make diners nervous. But the Chipotle incident is just a jumping-off point for Stewart's larger point: The NRA's war to stop "smart guns" makes no sense.

Only one store in the U.S. has proposed selling the German-made handguns, which will only work if paired with a specific bracelet — and that Maryland store's owner dropped the plan after receiving death threats from gun-rights activists. Why? Because once any store starts selling smart guns in the U.S., a New Jersey law kicks in gradually phasing out sales of all dumb guns in that state. The thing is, Stewart said, the New Jersey Democrat who proposed the bill is willing to repeal it if the NRA agrees to allow smart guns to be sold in the U.S.

Surely "everybody is holding hands and singing 'Gun-ba-yah'" now? Stewart hazards: The NRA gets to scrap a gun-control law in favor of selling more guns, right? After noting that the NRA is, in fact, not interested in the deal, Stewart rested his case: "Finally, the NRA's fight to protect the Second Amendment has met its match: the NRA." --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.