Why Do Reporters Always Emphasize That A Gun Was "LOADED"?

[Nicky Santoro]

I think they use the term because they know nothing about firearms and parrot what they are told or just pull something out of the air. Many years ago when one local PD was transitioning from revolvers to pistols, a reporterette described them as "fully loaded Glock assault revolvers".

 

[Reloadron]

Makes it sound more ominous !

That is about it. Here's another one. Here in my little liberal mecca (Cleveland, Ohio) the daily rag is The Cleveland Plain Dealer. When they wish to question a police shooting of a suspect they liked using "gunned down by police" rather than shot by police. How often do we see the term arsenal used to refer to five guns and a thousand rounds of ammunition? How about the term "mass shooting"? How about assault rifle?

Ron

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

I am 68 years old and my Dad always asked us boys "What use is an unloaded gun?" We lived on a farm and always had loaded rifles (Argentine Mauser and Winchester pump .22) in the coat closet by the back door. No person was ever shot or inured by the loaded rifles as we were taught proper usage from an early age. From watching the old westerns I learned the only thing an unloaded gun was used for was throwing at those who were chasing you.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

... I learned the only thing an unloaded gun was used for was throwing at those who were chasing you.

My cinematic luck would be, if I threw my empty gun at a villain, he'd have a speedloader with compatible ammo. An empty steel revolver makes a better club than it makes a projectile.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Matt Dillon illustrated that method many times on Gunsmoke.

 

[bearcreek]

I just watched a news report about some idiot who shot a kid playing hide and seek in his yard.

The reporter emphasized that the homeowner retrieved a LOADED gun from his home and shot the kid.

I mean, isn't it a given that it's a homeowner shot the kid the gun was loaded?

Same reason you'll never see a news report describing someone as being "lightly armed" or using a "low power rifle".

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Because the "Fourth Estate" is now also the "Fifth Column"...

 

[Jim Watson]

From watching the old westerns I learned the only thing an unloaded gun was used for was throwing at those who were chasing you.

Right.
And in a related cinematic vein, you should discard your empty canteen in arid country, because you did not figure on reaching water.

 

[The Night Rider]

Because the "Fourth Estate" is now also the "Fifth Column"...

It's been that for a while

 

[The Night Rider]

Right.
And in a related cinematic vein, you should discard your empty canteen in arid country, because you did not figure on reaching water.

Every time you read a book by Louis L'Amour somewhere in the book he will address that.

Somewhere in the book his hero will empty his canteen and then think to himself what a stupid thing it would be to throw that canteen away because what if he does and he finds water the next day.

Apparently that concept really annoyed Louis L'Amour

 

[mokin]

Its easier to blame a loaded gun than a loaded operator.

 

[CapnMac]

"hot water heater."

There's actually an architectural/engineering distinction between "domestic" hot water and "sanitary" hot water (about 40-80°F difference), but that's not really germane to THR.

And, we're in some dudgeon over the issue of which words are used by people who are paid by the word (or by the column inch). Who often sit in coffee shops after ordering a milk-less "latte"--latte actually meaning "with milk" in the italianate lingo of the coffeeshop--which is rather like ordering an "eggless" omelette.

The people creating copy for the popular press are not paid to know things. This is good as they literally do not know what they don't know. They are paid to pile up words.

 

[ColoradoMinuteMan]

“LOADED” was used for the same reason “retrieved” was. Poor command of the American English language coupled with a lack of logic. The reported did not know that retrieved means “to get back.” The shooter did not get his gun back. He simply “got” his gun. Anyone who says a shooting happened lith a loaded gun fails to use reason because, as we all know, you cannot get shot with an unloaded gun. Or the reporter is so stupid that he actually saw some possibility of being shot with an unloaded gun., in whicj]h case he ought to have a psych exam.

Retrieved can mean, regaining possession. Though getting one from the safe isn’t a transfer of possession in a legal sense, it makes perfect sense to use retrieve in the context above.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Anyone who says a shooting happened lith a loaded gun fails to use reason because, as we all know, you cannot get shot with an unloaded gun. Or the reporter is so stupid that he actually saw some possibility of being shot with an unloaded gun., in whicj]h case he ought to have a psych exam.

RUST

 

[Leon tP]

It still is far better than "armed gunman".

Of course, that seems to have been largely replaced by "active shooter", which is something I hope to be for at least another few years.

Soon to be replaced by Active Terrorist
Combatant Gunman.

Because it's a more effective headline grabber.

It's kind of like reporting a "dead body". When a body is found, I think it's always dead.

Police Chief to Reporter: "A female body was found on the beach this morning --

Report: "-- Was she dead?

Police Chief: "No, she was fine, but we bagged her up anyway..."

I am 68 years old and my Dad always asked us boys "What use is an unloaded gun?" ...

Reminds me of True Grit (1969)

Prosecutor: "Was the gun loaded and cocked?"

"Rooster" Cogburn:
Well, a gun that's unloaded and cocked ain't good for nothin'.

Because the "Fourth Estate" is now also the "Fifth Column"...

I remember when this was the running joke in The Werewolf episode of Kolchak: The Nightstalker.

I'll go back to my cave now.

 

[Poper]

It still is far better than "armed gunman".

Of course, that seems to have been largely replaced by "active shooter", which is something I hope to be for at least another few years.

If I participate in Metallic Silhouette competitions, does that make me an "active shooter"?

 

[.38 Special]

If I participate in Metallic Silhouette competitions, does that make me an "active shooter"?

No, those are "inactive shooters". The active ones are in IPSC.

 

[.38 Special]

Reminds me of True Grit (1969)

Prosecutor: "Was the gun loaded and cocked?"

"Rooster" Cogburn:
Well, a gun that's unloaded and cocked ain't good for nothin'

The one I've heard attributed to numerous sources:

New border patrolman, in response to seeing a 1911 carried cocked and locked: "Ain't that dangerous?"

Old border patrolman: "'Of course it's dangerous. I wouldn't carry it if it wasn't."

 

[Leon tP]

If I was in charge of reporting active shooters in the news, I would refer to them as...

Law Enforcement Designated Odious Unilaterally Chaotic Heinous Excrement

But since that's too long, I would just use the acronym...

 

[jmr40]

I think it's meant to emphasizes intent. Most non-gun people think a gun isn't loaded until you intend to do something with it. To non-gun people an unloaded gun was probably something carelessly left in a purse or bag. If it is loaded there is intent to do something nefarious.

 

[SterlingBullet]

Well, what a loaded question that is.

 

[mope540]

It still is far better than "armed gunman".

Of course, that seems to have been largely replaced by "active shooter", which is something I hope to be for at least another few years.

Another of the left's most often used and misleading BS lines is "gun violence".

 

[usaral63]

Yep, the fella featured on national news chasing the woman with a Louisville slugger wasn't called a bat nut or batman ! Mayhaps bat violence ought to have been substituted by the fifth column extremists.

 

[buck460XVR]

I just watched a news report about some idiot who shot a kid playing hide and seek in his yard.

The reporter emphasized that the homeowner retrieved a LOADED gun from his home and shot the kid.

I mean, isn't it a given that it's a homeowner shot the kid the gun was loaded?

....maybe the reporter didn't proof read his article. The above bold sentence shows how things read when someone doesn't proof read.

Did the reporter misrepresent any facts? If the gun had been unloaded and he claimed that the shooter went into the house, retrieved an unloaded gun, loaded it and then shot the kid, would that be bad reporting also?

It seems lately that folks are grasping at every tiny straw in an attempt to bash any gun sentiment that does not perfectly resemble theirs. We accuse anti's for taking articles that involve shootings and using them for their agenda, yet this thread is just an example of this. Two pages and 25 posts about a innocent kid getting shot, and the only sentiment I witness here is because the reporter used the word "loaded" in his report. No one thing mentioned about the POS that shot the kid. Hmmmmm.

Sorry, I'm a tad bit tired of the pot calling the kettle black. I'm a gun nut. Have been for all of my 7 decades of life. I detest a lot of reporting I see from liberal media on guns and their use. But I don't see any advantage over nit picking scenarios when there is little or nothing to nit pick.

JMTCs.

 

[5118ar]

Kinda same deal as the media seems to like to say it was a SUV, that caused whatever happened, and since when is anything from Korea a SUV?