Bob Costas fears gun culture but other NBC shows cater to it

Bob Costas recently spoke out about guns during a "Sunday Night Football" broadcast.

By Joe Flint

Dec. 12, 2012 12 AM PT

The advantage of being a big media company is that you sometimes to get to talk out of both sides of your mouth.

Take Comcast’s NBCUniversal for example. Last Sunday, NBC Sports analyst Bob Costas made headlines for his remarks during halftime of a football game regarding guns in the aftermath of an NFL player killing his girlfriend and then himself.

Costas bemoaned the gun culture in the United States and quoted sports columnist Jason Whitlock, who wrote: “Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it.” He was criticized by many for using NBC’s halftime show as a platform to talk about guns.

But while Costas is worried about guns and what they are doing to the country, another NBC outlet is not as concerned and has shows tailor-made for gun enthusiasts.

NBC Sports Network, the company’s cable sports outlet, carries “Guns & Gear” in the mornings. The program showcases an array of handguns and semi-automatic weapons. Wednesday’s episode featured a segment on a new handgun from Sig Sauer, and marketing executive Bud Fini was there to tout its new concealed weapon, which was met with enthusiasm by one of the show’s co-hosts.

“Millions of people are getting their conceal and carry permits and because of that, they’re looking for smaller and smaller guns and we have that in these two Sig Sauer guns, which is great,” said co-host Ryan Gresham. He then provided tips on how to shoot the smaller handguns.

An NBC Sports spokesman declined to comment about “Guns & Gear.” NBC Sports has been overhauling the programming on the channel as it acquires new content, so it remains to be seen if “Guns & Gear” has the firepower to stay on the schedule.

“Guns & Gear” is not the only show about firearms. The program following “Guns & Gear”: “Gun Nation.”

See, you can have your cake and eat it too.

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Bob Costas talks guns during football game

Backlash against Bob Costas for gun remarks

Follow Joe Flint on Twitter @JBFlint.