I first learned of sportswriter Jason Whitlock's gun commentary when NBC sportscaster Bob Costas read from it during halftime of yesterday's Sunday Night Football game. Now angry conservatives want Costas fired:

“If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kassandra Perkins would both be alive today,” Costas said, quoting from the Whitlock article.

Many questioned whether Sunday Night Football was the appropriate venue for such a charged political statement.

“I think Bob Costas owes America an apology. And I think he should be fired from Sunday Night Football,” former South Carolina GOP executive director Todd Kincannon tweeted Monday.

Of course they want Costas fired. That's the first weapon conservatives reach for: Say or write something that pisses them off, and they'll demand that you be denied your livelihood. Typical.

And also, it wasn't a "charged political statement." It was a well-reasoned conclusion. If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and his girlfriend would likely be alive today. It's hard to argue with that. And neither Costas nor Whitlock made any call for gun control. They merely called for reflection on a "gun culture" that escalates domestic disputes into tragedy.

But, you know, it's absolutely shameful to raise these issues in the immediate wake of such tragedies, just like it was absolutely shameful to raise issues about air travel security in the immediate wake of 9/11. Or something. So yeah: Fire Costas!