Posted on Sat, Jul. 26, 2003
Gun group targets media Lobbyists try to show other side of industry
By Kiley Russell
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
CASTRO VALLEY - A national gun group brought the battle for the hearts and minds of the country's media to a shooting range in the hills above Lake Chabot on Friday.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is a Connecticut-based industry organization that lobbies on behalf of manufacturers, dealers, ranges and other gun businesses.
Friday, the group hosted a daylong display of weaponry open to reporters, authors and other media types.
"We started this program four years ago after eight years of a Democratic administration and lots of anti-gun legislation," said Michael Bane, an event organizer. "Ultimately, it's proven more than worthwhile for the industry."
Gun advocates hope the $15,000 price tag for the shooting fest helps buy a bit of good will from journalists who, as a group, are often accused by the industry of possessing an anti-gun bias or obvious ignorance.
"Reporters are going to anti-gun groups to get firearms information and that's really bad," Bane said.
As a result, journalists tend to be "aware of the negative side" of gun issues but less interested in the "sports side," said foundation spokesman Paul Erhardt.
On Friday, however, only a handful made the trek to Castro Valley's Chabot Gun Club to snack on doughnuts, sip Gatorade and squeeze off a few rounds.
Before firing weapons, two local reporters and two aspiring mystery writers from Livermore sat in on a safety lesson conducted by Capt. Dave Arnold, director of personnel and training at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail in Williamsburg, Va.; and Kerby Smith, spokesman for gun maker Para-Ordnance Manufacturing Inc.
"A handgun can be dangerous. It launches projectiles and it can cause problems," Arnold said.
His audience's prior experience consisted of one's Navy sidearm training, another's paintball activities and another's occasional shotgun shooting. One novelist had once shot an old-fashioned "black powder" weapon.
Arnold walked them through proper loading, unloading and "dry firing" of a six-shot revolver -- the classic .38 Special -- and a semiautomatic 9 mm pistol. Along the way, he and Smith gave short gun history lessons and discussed the evolution of certain handguns.
Once on the firing range, an instructor worked with each student. Available were two champion pistol shooters and one revolver champion, all women. The writers could also pair up with Richard "Tequila" Young, who competes in "old West"-style shooting contests.
Tequila's instruction proved valuable for Ann Parker of Livermore, whose first historical mystery, "Silver Lies," is set to hit bookstores soon.
Parker said she now has a better idea of how to describe the guns her characters use.
"They're heavier than I thought they'd be and they don't kick as much as I thought they would," she said.
While most of the day passed without political discussions, organizers answered questions about pending federal legislation that critics say would grant gun makers sweeping immunity from negligence and product liability lawsuits.
Erhardt said suing manufacturers for damage done with their weapons is like suing carmakers and dealers after a drunken driving accident.
It is a bill Eric Howard of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, headquartered in Washington, D.C., calls "absolutely absurd."
"(The gun industry) would not have gotten so far if it had not been for the war in Iraq. If the public was seriously discussing this, it wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell," Howard said.
When the public begins to pay attention to the gun industry's lobbying, however, groups such as the NSSF will benefit from closer ties to the reporters covering the story, he said.
"So I think they're trying to create the relationships they need for the news cycles they have to take advantage of," Howard said.
For their part, the NSSF instructors encouraged the writers to expand their Rolodexes to include gun experts and industry leaders.
"We don't expect you to go out today and sign up for an NRA (National Rifle Association) membership or a concealed weapons permit," Arnold said.
He encouraged the writers to call NSSF officials or instructors for comments on future stories or for advice about how to include firearms information in their work.
"Anytime you have questions, now you have numbers, you have faces, you have names," he said.
Here is the link.
Gun group targets media Lobbyists try to show other side of industry
By Kiley Russell
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
CASTRO VALLEY - A national gun group brought the battle for the hearts and minds of the country's media to a shooting range in the hills above Lake Chabot on Friday.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is a Connecticut-based industry organization that lobbies on behalf of manufacturers, dealers, ranges and other gun businesses.
Friday, the group hosted a daylong display of weaponry open to reporters, authors and other media types.
"We started this program four years ago after eight years of a Democratic administration and lots of anti-gun legislation," said Michael Bane, an event organizer. "Ultimately, it's proven more than worthwhile for the industry."
Gun advocates hope the $15,000 price tag for the shooting fest helps buy a bit of good will from journalists who, as a group, are often accused by the industry of possessing an anti-gun bias or obvious ignorance.
"Reporters are going to anti-gun groups to get firearms information and that's really bad," Bane said.
As a result, journalists tend to be "aware of the negative side" of gun issues but less interested in the "sports side," said foundation spokesman Paul Erhardt.
On Friday, however, only a handful made the trek to Castro Valley's Chabot Gun Club to snack on doughnuts, sip Gatorade and squeeze off a few rounds.
Before firing weapons, two local reporters and two aspiring mystery writers from Livermore sat in on a safety lesson conducted by Capt. Dave Arnold, director of personnel and training at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail in Williamsburg, Va.; and Kerby Smith, spokesman for gun maker Para-Ordnance Manufacturing Inc.
"A handgun can be dangerous. It launches projectiles and it can cause problems," Arnold said.
His audience's prior experience consisted of one's Navy sidearm training, another's paintball activities and another's occasional shotgun shooting. One novelist had once shot an old-fashioned "black powder" weapon.
Arnold walked them through proper loading, unloading and "dry firing" of a six-shot revolver -- the classic .38 Special -- and a semiautomatic 9 mm pistol. Along the way, he and Smith gave short gun history lessons and discussed the evolution of certain handguns.
Once on the firing range, an instructor worked with each student. Available were two champion pistol shooters and one revolver champion, all women. The writers could also pair up with Richard "Tequila" Young, who competes in "old West"-style shooting contests.
Tequila's instruction proved valuable for Ann Parker of Livermore, whose first historical mystery, "Silver Lies," is set to hit bookstores soon.
Parker said she now has a better idea of how to describe the guns her characters use.
"They're heavier than I thought they'd be and they don't kick as much as I thought they would," she said.
While most of the day passed without political discussions, organizers answered questions about pending federal legislation that critics say would grant gun makers sweeping immunity from negligence and product liability lawsuits.
Erhardt said suing manufacturers for damage done with their weapons is like suing carmakers and dealers after a drunken driving accident.
It is a bill Eric Howard of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, headquartered in Washington, D.C., calls "absolutely absurd."
"(The gun industry) would not have gotten so far if it had not been for the war in Iraq. If the public was seriously discussing this, it wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell," Howard said.
When the public begins to pay attention to the gun industry's lobbying, however, groups such as the NSSF will benefit from closer ties to the reporters covering the story, he said.
"So I think they're trying to create the relationships they need for the news cycles they have to take advantage of," Howard said.
For their part, the NSSF instructors encouraged the writers to expand their Rolodexes to include gun experts and industry leaders.
"We don't expect you to go out today and sign up for an NRA (National Rifle Association) membership or a concealed weapons permit," Arnold said.
He encouraged the writers to call NSSF officials or instructors for comments on future stories or for advice about how to include firearms information in their work.
"Anytime you have questions, now you have numbers, you have faces, you have names," he said.
Here is the link.