POLITICO Screen grab New York Times runs gun control editorial on Page 1

The New York Times on Saturday ran an editorial on its front page urging lawmakers to tighten gun control regulations, the first time the newspaper has published an editorial on Page 1 since 1920.

The Times' editorial board describes as a “moral outrage” and “national disgrace” that under Constitutional protections Americans are legally permitted to purchase deadly weapons that “kill people with brutal speed and efficiency.”


The paper’s decision follows the recent mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., which left 14 dead and 21 wounded. On Friday, the FBI indicated that authorities are investigating a potential link to global terrorism networks. a story the paper also carries on its front page, above the fold.

The editorial, also published on the New York Times’ website, contends that in addition to anger pointed towards the aggressors, Americans should also direct outrage to elected officials tasked with the responsibility of protecting the safety of the country, but who often “place a higher premium on the money and political power of an industry dedicated to profiting from the unfettered spread of ever more powerful firearms.”

“It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing, as they did on Thursday. They distract us with arguments about the word terrorism. Let’s be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism.”

“It is not necessary to debate the peculiar wording of the Second Amendment,” the editorial states. “No right is unlimited and immune from reasonable regulation.”

The editorial concludes looking onward to 2016.

“What better time than during a presidential election to show, at long last, that our nation has retained its sense of decency?”

In a statement obtained by POLITICO, the publisher of The Times, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., said, "It has been many decades since The Times ran an editorial on Page One. We do so today to deliver a strong and visible statement of frustration and anguish about our country’s inability to come to terms with the scourge of guns. Even in this digital age, the front page remains an incredibly strong and powerful way to surface issues that demand attention. And, what issue is more important than our nation’s failure to protect its citizens?"

The last time the paper published an editorial on its front page, in June 1920, the editorial board expressed disapproval of Warren G. Harding’s nomination as the next Republican presidential candidate.

Alex Weprin contributed to this report.