Zumbo: Gun rag writer trashes "Assault Weapons"

[SWModel19]

Several pages back, someone posted "Isn't an apology enough?"

The problem is that his original comments are now a part of the record of "even the hunting crowd wants to ban assault weapons" that the Brady crowd wants to push.

His apology is useless unless he is willing to also refute his own comments every time they are brought up in the future by some gun grabbing group - which would be impossible to do. This cat is out of the bag.

 

[Derby FALs]

I am a Union worker, registered Democrat. I stay Democrat so I can vote in the Primary. Here in Kentucky we have some Dems that are more progun, 2nd A than many Reps. I believe Zumbo actually speaks for millions of gun owners. I hear this from fellow workers all the time. These guys hunt and fish and are freaked out by evil black rifles. Many of them believe we are a small minority of paranoid crazies. When Kerry pandered to the hunters they tried to tell me he was not against guns. They wouldn't be swayed. It is good our wrath has been made so public. We are a force to be reckoned with. This whole issue may well need be settled by force. It is not up for vote.

 

[thumper723]

Tom,

I applaud you for giving Mr. Zumbo a chance to speak on your progam after this. What he did or did not do was up to him.

I think some of the companies are seeing the bigger picture. As to getting the message out to the "hunters who own guns" vice the "gun owners who hunt", perhaps something from Oleg is in order..

Casey Bates

 

[HiroProX]

The main thing is, this is an excellent opportunity to point out a fact that makes the Brady Bunch uncomfortable. Most gun owners are not hunters.

 

[mp510]

Most gun owners are not hunters.

As true as that is, the people that publication is geared towards are sportsman- and is more apt to deal with guns as they pertain to hunting and maybe some of the more traditional target shooting sports. Would you expect a magazine on CCW to cater towards hunters? I wouldn't buy a CCW magazine if I was loking for a read on hunting rifles, and I wouldn't by a hunting magazine looking for defensive weapons information. Diffirent publications serve diffirent purposes.

 

[Battlespace]

Derby FALs

You have bought in and taken a huge drink of the coolaide if you think being a registered Democrat is the way to go. Who do you vote for in thenext presidential primary? Obama? Hillary? I would much rather have my one little vote counted for someone that I can support instead of throwing it away.

I live near you and on the same side of the river and hunt and fish throughout the great commonwealth and have never once heard anyone say anything about those awful black rifles. Do you happen to hang around with Jerry, the mayor for life? He is the only one I can think of who might have that attitude.

 

[Thin Black Line]

This isn't a gun culture crack up.

It's a crack down on a traitor who has damaged our cause.

and

From the comments I am seeing here, on the blog, and on other forums, there has been very little "dividing."

Looking back at the climate from 1986 to the first AWB, this will be just the
beginning of the "who really needs those things" among our so-called own as
AWBII attempts to gather steam. I remember very very well the numerous
gun owners, FFLs, etc I ran into from the 80s-90s who were anything from
the over/under shotgun country club snob types to the self-centered "I already
have my EBR, so tough kaka for everyone else who didn't buy when they had
the chance" attitude.

Did the Americans during the Revolutionary War consider it 'divide and conquer' when Benedict Arnold was discovered as a traitor?

I wonder if the Crown would have considered that an attempt to divide and conquer?

 

[Ezekiel]

Most gun owners are not hunters.

Than why so riled?

His statement is an opinion, it's a perfectly valid (because it is HIS) opinion, and he has a right to have it.

You know, things like AR-15's are assault rifles. Assault rifles are -- without question -- readily used in terroristic (force change through fear, intimidation, force, et al) fashion, including by our military.

Does that make anyone who carries/uses one a terrorist? "Of course not."

The rabid gun world -- including the variety of knee-jerk nutjobs in this very thread who have gone nuclear with their comments -- is reacting as if it does. :banghead:

It is this emboldened and radical dogma, spilling out in "Cold, Dead Hands" fashion, that creates the firestorm and burdens responsible gun owners with ridiculously horrific stereotype: not the single-note opinion of a lone blogger. (Bah!)

In general, gun owners give firearm ownership a bad name, not those that seek to limit it.

Own what you desire, use it for it's intended purpose, and don't be a dumbass by appearing the knee-jerk radical. It's not complicated.

 

[Eagle103]

I thought it was worthwhile to give him a chance to . . . I don't know . . . make a statement, so I provided the platform.

It wasn't very good.

No need to apologize for anything Tom. It wasn't your job to attack an old friend on the air whether he deserved it or not. He's the one who dropped the ball trying to explain himself. You've done more to advance gun rights and educate the public than anyone. Thanks.

 

[No_Brakes23]

Well it looks like the Remington firing is a reality.

That makes me all the more happy that I bought a 597 instead of one of Brady Bill Ruger's 10-22s.

 

[HiroProX]

Than why so riled?

Because after a 10 year ban, and stirring of a new one, the general consensus is...

Never again.

One must be fully prepared to meet one's opponents radicalism in kind and measure. Otherwise, you're not in it to win it.

 

[sm]

Personal Responsibility.
To thine own self be true.

Jim Zumbo needs to do some soul searching and get brutally honest with himself first. Now he has Rights as we all do. He has a right to his beliefs and opinions, whether I or anyone else agrees with him he has this right.

Jim Zumbo after getting brutally honest with himself, needs to be honest with his sponsors and the public which reads his works.

Put the cards on the table for everyone to see. Jim Zumbo in my opinion should do this in a Live Press Conference, with the printed text of his words made available on Internet and hard copy.

I personally do not want Jim Zumbo to "say" what he "thinks" I want to hear, instead I want to hear Jim Zumbo express his brutally honest beliefs and feelings.

If he really feels AR are "terrorist rifles" - then say so. If he feels owners of
AR's are "terrorists" - then spit it out. If he feels hunters are "special" and only hunters should have guns express it. If he agrees with Bill Ruger, Sarah Brady, Rebecca Petersen, George Soros - whomever - say so.

If Jim Zumbo does not agree with Sarah Brady, then by golly stand up like man and say so!

Jim Zumbo - To thine own self be true. If you cannot be true to yourself, you cannot be expected to ever be trusted with anything you say, endorse or represent again.

Quit straddling the fence, get on one side or the other, and let it be known!

My sentiment also extends to any of Jim Zumbo's sponsors, endorsers and whomever.
I want to also put your cards on the table - face up so I can see. Do not "show me" what you think I want to see - again, be brutally honest with yourselves first, the show the cards face up.


Now if Jim Zumbo, any of his sponsors , share with brutal honesty their truth beliefs , and positions on RKBA and other matters - It is MY right to agree or disagree.

Enough of this straddling the fence to save hides, save money from subscriptions, sales of merchandise and whatever else.

At least I know where Sarah Brady, Rebecca Petersen, George Soros and others stand.
I hate to use the word "respect" - then again I am being brutally honest when I type - I may not agree with these folks, I do at least respect the fact they put cards on the table face up and allowed me to see the hand they intend to play.


I have said it before and others have - Internet is Real Time. We The People are watching, keeping tabs and taking actions.


Steve

 

[stevetexas]

Ladies and gentlemen ,

Whatever the personal outcome is for Zumbo, we had better be prepared to keep seeing quotes like this one and others from Zumbo's article in antigun propaganda for the rest of our lives...

"I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles."

Steve

 

[Bob M.]

"When Kerry pandered to the hunters they tried to tell me he was not against guns.
They wouldn't be swayed."


I can't help seeing Kerry smiling ear to ear over this....


Thanks Zumbo!!

 

[force_quit]

How to make something good from this? Perhaps (just thinking out loud here), using this as a launching pad to get the firearms industry to work on educating the ranks of hunters and competitive shooters to the issues of gun rights. ??

Certainly, everyone in the firearms industry heard this call to action. Now, the question is, how do we harnass this event . . . this energy . . . to advance gun rights?

We really need to remember the energy and vigor with which this was protested and pour that into protesting* the real bad anti-2A that is already rearing its ugly head!

*And maybe we could curb some of the language so that the antis can't use that against us.

 

[dm1333]

Ezekiel

He wants to ban the gun from the woods because of the way it looks. That is the problem. People are riled because as a writer and member of the NRA for over 40 years he should understand why this is wrong.

I live in California. I can't buy an AR-15 because of this kind of thinking. Kel Tec makes the SU-16 and Ruger the Mini 14 and I can buy both of them here. I expect that sort of thinking from the anti gun crowd, not a hunting writer.

 

[ryoushi]

How to make something good from this? Perhaps (just thinking out loud here), using this as a launching pad to get the firearms industry to work on educating the ranks of hunters and competitive shooters to the issues of gun rights. ??

Certainly, everyone in the firearms industry heard this call to action. Now, the question is, how do we harnass this event . . . this energy . . . to advance gun rights?

I would suggest that Zim Zumbo being dumped by his employers and sponsers as abruptly and publicly as possible is the best start. Also the shooting sports need new blood to survive, so I'd recommend the shooting press take a long look at their payroll, then give talented and relevant people like Zack Smith, Tamera K and 1911 Tuner some room on their tired pages.

 

[Sistema1927]

Ezekiel:

You know, things like AR-15's are assault rifles.

Sorry, Ezekiel, but no cigar. Semi-automatic AR-15 rifles are not, and never have been, "Assault Weapons". Neither are the semi-automatic AK and SKS rifles, or the FAL, or....

Terrorists, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, have no trouble getting their hands on select fire weapons that fit the "Assault Rifle" definition. They don't need to go down to the local gun store and buy a semi-automatic Bushmaster. However, even if they did, why should that preclude you, me, or anyone else from owning one? (Or, for that matter, allowing us to own the select fire versions without having to jump through eighty-eleven hoops?)

It is not the weapon, it is the terrorist. It is not the weapon, it is the criminal. It makes some people feel good to enact laws and rules ban weapons, but the bad guys aren't obeying the rules to begin with.

 

[Sistema1927]

Tom Gresham,

I applaud you for giving Jim Zumbo the time to attempt to apologize, but, in retrospect, don't you wish that you had taken 30 seconds to inform him on the air that the 2nd Amendment isn't about hunting?

(Great shows, BTW.)

 

[torpid]

...His statement is an opinion, it's a perfectly valid (because it is HIS) opinion, and he has a right to have it.

You know, things like AR-15's are assault rifles. Assault rifles are -- without question -- readily used in terroristic (force change through fear, intimidation, force, et al) fashion, including by our military.

Does that make anyone who carries/uses one a terrorist? "Of course not."

The rabid gun world -- including the variety of knee-jerk nutjobs in this very thread who have gone nuclear with their comments -- is reacting as if it does.

It is this emboldened and radical dogma, spilling out in "Cold, Dead Hands" fashion, that creates the firestorm and burdens responsible gun owners with ridiculously horrific stereotype: not the single-note opinion of a lone blogger. (Bah!)

In general, gun owners give firearm ownership a bad name, not those that seek to limit it.

Own what you desire, use it for it's intended purpose, and don't be a dumbass by appearing the knee-jerk radical. It's not complicated.

Calling them "terrorist guns" may have hurt feelings, but "To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods." is a direct and unambiguous call to legislative action against law abiding gun owners.

That incitement to ban legal arms from our public lands not something to be shrugged off as "one man's opinion" when he is published in a national magazine and sponsored (formerly- thanks Remington!!!) by a leading firearms and ammunition manufacturer.

 

[HuntCast]

What I'm wondering is how someone who has been hunting that long, writing about it that long, and going to the SHOT show, and an NRA member, and friends with almost EVERYONE in the industry, needs to be reminded about the meaning of the second amendment?

 

[Derby FALs]

Thumbs down Derby FALs
You have bought in and taken a huge drink of the coolaide if you think being a registered Democrat is the way to go. Who do you vote for in thenext presidential primary? Obama? Hillary? I would much rather have my one little vote counted for someone that I can support instead of throwing it away.

I live near you and on the same side of the river and hunt and fish throughout the great commonwealth and have never once heard anyone say anything about those awful black rifles. Do you happen to hang around with Jerry, the mayor for life? He is the only one I can think of who might have that attitude.

You're pulling a Zumbo now, my friend. Why don't they try to ban EBRs here? They are scared to. Politics are local. I try to get rid of the worst Dems in the Primary. Any old Republican will do. What have you changed by voting in the Republican Primary? As far as Jerry and his great "International City" goes, does Metro Louisville still count as part of Kentucky?

 

[Ezekiel]

Answer? Vote against the legislation.

But I'm tired of responsible gun owners looking bad because knee-jerk nutjobs feel threatened that someone might bring into floor discussion (not law) a few caveats related to their metallic phalluses.

And, before anyone goes all troglodyte and feels insulted, "ask yourself which group you're in."

If it's the former, I don't see an issue.

"...game departments should ban them from the praries and woods." is a direct and unambiguous call to legislative action against law abiding gun owners.

 

[Cosmoline]

You know, things like AR-15's are assault rifles. Assault rifles are -- without question -- readily used in terroristic (force change through fear, intimidation, force, et al) fashion, including by our military.

Wrong! You are getting confused between a selective fire assault rifle and a so-called "assault weapon."

And you're calling our military terrorists?

, for one, am incredibly proud of how fast Remington responded to this. www.remington.com They are severing ties to Zumbo...all within 24 hours.

That is a silver lining. I think it highlights the fact that whatever Zumbo and the "over under" crowd might think, we are not some minority of nutters. The world has changed since the 1980's.

 

[plexreticle]

My reply for all it's worth. I will copy Remington also when I find the email address.

Show me a .17 that's a long range tack driver.I could name 20 companies that make semiauto rifles that out shoot you. Just because Remingtion doesn't make a decent semi auto doesn't mean they don't exist.

Outdoor life condones this nonsense regardless of their disclaimer.

Zumbo is a terrorist using propaganda to attack our Bill of Rights. He is an enemy of gun rights, hunters and gun owners everywhere.