SEAN HANNITY

Tuesday, September 17th

Making Sense of the Navy Yard Shooting We are just one day removed from the shooting in Washington's Navy Yard that tragically took the lives of 12 people. Perhaps the biggest looming question remains the question of “why?” What was the motivation of the gunman who has now been identified as 34 year old Aaron Alexis, who was killed by police. At this point, there are no other suspects or gunmen being sought. Understanding more about Aaron Alexis is not for glorification, as many of these sick people crave, but to help us learn from our mistakes and make efforts to prevent future tragedy. The portrait of the gunman is starting to be pieced together. I’ve summarized much of what we know on Hannity.com and I’m sure more details will come to light in the days and weeks ahead. Needless to say, this information is important so that we can learn from it. Again we are faced with questions about the role mental health plays in these mass shootings, as we have now seen with Loughner, Lanza and Holmes. We also must question the security of our government facilities and the process of our background checks: How does someone with an arrest history and mental illness pass a background check and gain security clearance? Also keep in mind that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was a government contractor; Do we need a better system for screening these 4+ million people whom we trust with government information and abilities? These are the questions we must ask ourselves in order to hopefully prevent future tragedies. The Politics of the DC Shooting It goes without saying that politics played a very immediate role in the coverage and reaction to the shooting, and it will no doubt continue as the story unfolds. The revitalized cries for gun control can already be heard, even as the investigation remains open. From Piers Morgan to Dianne Feinstein to Jay Carney, talk of gun control has kick-started once again. We had this debate just months ago, and the reason why gun control measures failed to pass is because liberals cannot produce evidence that their ideas to limit guns would actually result in less crime or fewer mass shootings. More importantly, the right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in our Bill of Rights. And then there is our tone deaf president. While government workers had been killed, many wounded, and there was an active search for (at the time) more shooters, just miles away Barack Obama chose to give a deeply partisan speech attacking Republicans. While he did acknowledge the events unfolding at the top of his speech, that didn't stop him from going as far as to say that Republicans “are willing to hurt people” in order to win political points. Here's an excerpt from Obama's speech, which was scheduled prior to the shooting. Either the president himself is completely tone deaf or he has surrounded himself with some pretty lousy advisers. Giving a highly partisan speech of this nature just miles from an active mass shooting scene was poor judgement. The optics could not have been worse. When asked about this speech by Fox News' Ed Henry, Jay Carney described it as " entirely appropriate." I think the American people and those affected by yesterday's tragedy beg to differ. For more on this, click here.

BIg Thank You As of late there has been a lot of talk about my future, many of the liberals predicting my demise. You, the greatest audience any host could want, have made it possible to have as much success as I’ve seen. Without you, I don’t have either of my jobs and I’ve been extraordinarily blessed. You have, for over a decade, made The Hannity Show the second most popular talk radio show in the nation and I’m extraordinarily humbled to have the opportunity to communicate with you. With all that said, I’m happy to report that I’ve resigned my syndication deal with Premiere Radio Networks and will remain on 95% of my current stations and have found some additional opportunities. This will result in a major increase in our audience. As far as television, I’ll be live on Fox News starting at 10pm in October. Now, I know this news breaks the hearts of many liberals but I’m excited to remain at Fox. At this point in my life, my son is fifteen and my daughter just turned twelve, this new time slot will allow me to spend more time with my family and yet remain dedicated to bringing you the news of the day. All in all, it is your support and dedication to my radio and television shows that has given me this great opportunity and I look forward to the coming years as we fight for the conservative values that will keep this country great. For more on the upcoming Fox News schedule, check out FoxNews.com.   Today's "Hot Topic" From the Hannity Forums: Hey Joe, Should We Still Buy Shotguns? - Posted by altair1013 Remember after Sandy Hook when Joe Biden said that anyone who want's a weapon for self defense should get a shotgun? Well now that we know that the Navy Yard shooter used a shotgun not an AR-15, I wonder if he still recommends shotguns? And good luck Peirs Morgan with getting a shotgun ban. What about it Joe? >>TV Tonight (9pm ET on Fox News) Sean has the latest on the DC shooting.