A Writer of His Stature

What Jim said was ill-considered. He’s entitled to his beliefs, but when a writer of his stature comes out against black guns, it sure as hell does not help our cause. [More]

Kind of like what you did back in 1994, Mr. Petzal, just a few months before the federal semiauto ban was passed and signed into law?

"Gun owners -- all gun owners -- pay a heavy price for having to defend the availability of these weapons," writes Petzal. "The American public -- and the gun-owning public; especially the gun-owning public -- would be better off without the hardcore military arms, which puts the average sportsman in a real dilemma" Petzal concludes by advocating compromise, something that Knox and other members of his regime say they will never accept.

Here's something else I don't get, Mr. Petzal, when you go on to say:

If Sarah Brady is smart—and she is very smart—she will comb through the same blogs and chatrooms I’ve been reading, excerpt some of the most vicious and foul-mouthed entries, print them up, and distribute them to Congress.

So you think it will hurt us worse than your anti-gun advocacy, or this bit of information publicized by your magazine and used by the gun grabbers to justify the '94 ban?

In 2003, Field & Stream magazine conducted a survey of its readers and found that 67% do not consider assault weapons to be legitimate hunting guns.

I wasn't ready to post this yet, because I sent away for the copy of F&S where you wrote your screed against "hard core military arms," Mr. Petzal, and wanted to post the actual page. But I see others on your blog are calling you on it and I don't want to be late to the party, especially when I've been holding off for several days now.

Back when you penned your column, I actually organized a boycott against your magazine at one of our NRA Members Council meetings (I was an officer with the club) and got probably a dozen others to send in protest letters to the magazine. Of course, that was back in the days before we were on the internet, so the rest of the world never got the message. But when this whole Zumbo fiasco broke out, I remembered that effort and dug through my files. I found the "talking points" sheet I put together to give suggestions to members on how to write their own letters to both NRA and F&S. Here it is:


I think you, sir, have some explaining to do.

NRA Publications Suspends Ties to Jim Zumbo

Comments expressed by outdoor writer Jim Zumbo reflect neither the opinions of the National Rifle Association and America’s gun owners, nor are they an accurate portrayal of facts in regard to semi-automatic firearms lawfully owned by millions of citizens. Therefore, NRA Publications has suspended its professional ties with Mr. Zumbo.

[Via 45superman]

Zumbo on Nugent Forum

Yuri Orlov notified me of this in a comment in an earlier post. I'd have put this up sooner, but I just got in from work.

Outdoor Life And Jim Zumbo Part Ways

In light of comments made by Jim Zumbo in his February 16, 2007 blog posting on the magazine’s website, Mr. Zumbo has offered to terminate his association with Outdoor Life, and the magazine has accepted his offer. Accordingly, he will no longer be contributing to the magazine in print or online. His final column with Outdoor Life will appear in the April 2007 issue, which has already gone to press.

Just got in from work and found a note in my mailbox from Outdoor Life advising of this announcement. I'm sure it's already out there by now, but I've been following this from the start so I couldn't let this pass without posting.

Gerber Cuts Ties With Zumbo

[Via HZ]

Cabela's Drops Zumbo from Online Catalog

Gun Law News has the scoop.

Q&A

I realize I am running for President; not for the NRA Board of Directors, but I thought you might like to see where I would stand if I were. I am a disgruntled life member of the NRA. This is where I stand, and where I wish a candidate for the NRA Board of Directors would stand as well...

Kent McManigal answers some questions. If any NRA Board candidates wish to tell us unequivocally where they stand, I'll post their responses, too.

That none of the candidates feel compelled to go on the record--or even that it would be helpful--illustrates just how far we have to go: if hard core activists can't even muster the influence to affect NRA elections, is it any wonder our concerns will be dismissed in political campaigns?

We're the Only Ones Barricaded Enough

Investigators in Xenia say last night their SWAT team had to pull their weapons out on him, when the Middletown police lieutenant was looking for his ex-wife and child around this home on Drummond Drive.

They say he was at the wrong address and didn't know the people who lived there, but demanded to get in and eventually broke in and barricaded himself inside -- forcing the residents, outside.

All I can say is it's damned lucky for all concerned that he wasn't a scared old lady or an unarmed teenager.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

A Vicious Circle

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to reduce overcrowding in the state's prison by transferring some inmates to out-of-state facilities took a blow when a judge ruled the plan violated the state constitution. The ruling was a result of a suit brought by two employee unions.

I suppose letting non-violent drug and gun possession offenders go isn't on the table?

I heard a CA politician--As I recall it was Assemblyman Tony Strickland --on the radio last night while driving home. Here's what he said about this (paraphrased from memory):

The state doesn't have enough room to house all its prisoners. But the guards don't want to lose their revenue sources by shipping assets out of state. Prisoners are encouraged to voluntarily transfer under this program by the state, except the gang bosses who control their inmate populations will kill them if they volunteer, because if the overcrowding is relieved, early releases required because of overcrowding won't be needed any more.

And then, when the goblins are dumped back into the general population and kill again, why, the same government that imposes these insane policies will demand more citizen disarmament as just the ticket to combat violence. And the legislators passing such bans will have no shortage of public union employees standing behind them--in uniform--for their campaign ads, telling us how it's all about public safety.

And the voters will eat it up.

Just so we all understand how it works.

We're the Only Ones in the Front of the Bus Enough

The latest weapon to make its way into Toronto Police hands was a sawed-off rifle that a mother found in her son's dresser last week. It was through lawyers that she turned over the gun. Because of client confidentiality, her identity was kept a secret...

Police concerns focus mostly on the inherent dangers and about the potential poisoning of evidence, Pugash said.

"If you are in possession of a gun and you get on a Number 36 bus and go to Mr. Sapiano's office ... what is the risk to yourself and other people on the bus," Pugash said.

He suggested that lawyers are more than likely not firearms experts and should not be handling firearms in this way.

"Shall we wait for a tragedy to occur to see that this is not the way to do it," Pugash said.

I love it when statists turn on themselves.

Using lawyer/client privilege: What an ingenious way to dispose of murder weapons.

And what a plan: fight "gun crime" by protecting the criminals who abuse firearms, then, when they commit more violence, you call for more "gun control."

And then, of course, we have the position from "The Only Ones," that is, no one but them is qualified or professional enough to carry a gun in public without disaster ensuing.

The FAA Rediscovers the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

David Codrea, who sounded the alarm about the Federal Aviation Administration's apparent endorsement of the view that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms, notes that the agency has published a correction in the Federal Register...

Thanks, Mr. Sullum.

I found what I saw when I clicked on this link especially gratifying.

Guns in Space

After tripping into a constitutional gun rights controversy, the FAA has amended a rule that bans carrying guns on commercial space ships.

I guess after complaining that no one from the "authorized journalist" camp was picking up on this story, I should be grateful for this exposure, even if it is on the ABC blog as opposed to their news site, even if they didn't credit the source, and even if their attitude is borderline belittling and only marginally on point.

That whole gift horse/mouth thing always seemed counterintuitive...

This might be a good time to contact "mainstream" new providers and ask them why they thought this story wasn't important enough to call to the attention of their readers/viewers. More of my thoughts on that are here and here.

A Note on Reciprocity

In the past week, I've probably added around half a dozen sites to my blogroll that I discovered while checking Technorati or my counters.

If you've linked to WarOnGuns and I haven't reciprocated, it probably means I just haven't noticed yet. Please don't feel slighted--just tell me so I can update the list.

This Day in History: February 22

On this day in 1777, Revolutionary War leader and Georgia’s first Provisional Governor Archibald Bulloch dies under mysterious circumstances just hours after Georgia’s Council of Safety grants him the powers of a dictator in expectation of a British invasion.