by Neetzan Zimmerman, 12/17/12(gawker)
"Friday changed everything," proclaimed MSNBC's Joe Scarborough at the onset of a ten-minute monologue he delivered during this morning's Morning Joe — and that change began at home for the former congressman.

The conservative Republican who "received the NRA's highest ratings over four terms in Congress" told his viewers that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown challenged his "long-held" beliefs on gun rights and rendered "the ideologies of my past career...no longer relevant."

Though he did place some of the blame on violent video games and movies, Scarborough, who says previous acts of mass murder only served to amplify his position in the gun debate, now acknowledges in no uncertain terms that "our bill of rights does not guarantee gun manufacturers the absolute right to sell military-style, high-caliber, semi-automatic combat assault rifles with high-capacity magazines to whoever the hell they want."
He continues: "It is time for Congress to put children before deadly dogmas."

Also appearing on Morning Joe this morning was NRA-endorsed Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who echoed Scarborough's post-Newtown sentiments that America has changed and, as far as an assault weapons ban goes, "everything should be on the table."