Conservative Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Kyle Kashuv demolished New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on Thursday after Kristof wrote a columnist pushing for gun control measures.
Kristof listed in his column “10 modest steps” that he argues could cut gun violence, which Kashuv then dissected one-by-one in a Twitter thread.
Kristof’s first three points were:
1. “Require universal background checks to see if a purchaser is a felon or a threat to others.”
2. “Improve background checks by allowing the federal government adequate time to perform them.”
3. “Pass “red flag laws” that allow a judge to order the temporary removal of a gun from people who are a threat to themselves or others.”
Kashuv responded with the following three points:
Kristof’s fourth point was “Get guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.”
Kashuv responded by writing: “The intimate relationship numbers are useless because they also include crimes committed against prostitutes by Johns and Pimps. Women shouldn’t be concerned about all men, but those who have a violent criminal history. 90% of adult murderers have a violent criminal history. When you see how relatively small murders are involving women, you get an idea how important these considerations are. Women, because they are weaker physically, also benefit much more from owning guns then men do.”
Kristof’s next two points were:
5. “Require safe storage of guns, preferably in a safe or at least with a trigger lock.”
6. “Make serial numbers harder to file off, and require microstamping, so that cartridges can be traced back to the gun that fired the bullets.”
Kashuv responded with:
Kristof’s last four points were:
7. “Invest in ‘smart guns’ that require a PIN, fingerprint or nearby bracelet to fire.”
8. “Support community anti-violence programs, like Cure Violence and Becoming a Man, that work with at-risk young people and show excellent success in reducing shootings.”
9. “Limit buyers in most cases to one or two gun purchases a month, to reduce gun trafficking.”
10. “Invest in gun buybacks.”
Kashuv replied: