Posted on 02/22/2007 5:37:12 AM PST by holymoly
THERE IS A bit of a rift going on in the outdoor sporting world between hunters and gun enthusiasts, which sometimes are one in the same.
The raucousness started when longtime outdoors writer Jim Zumbo of Outdoor Life magazine posted a story online that said assault rifles -- he also called them terrorist rifles -- had no place in the hunting community, even suggesting that game departments ban them from the prairies and woods.
According to The Shooting Wire web site, he tried to apologize, attributing his remarks to being tired following a long day of hunting coyotes in extreme weather conditions.
Outdoor Life announced it was discontinuing the "Hunting With Zumbo" blog "for the time being" due to the "controversy surrounding Jim Zumbo's latest postings."
Their notice went on to remind readers "Outdoor Life has always been, and will always be, a steadfast supporter of our Second Amendment rights which do not make distinctions based on the looks of the firearms we choose to own, shoot and take hunting."
Assault rifle enthusiasts were quick to call for boycotts of products associated with Zumbo, according to The Shooting Wire, which included Remington. Zumbo, a National Rifle Association member for 40 years, quickly found his sponsors bailing.
"There was little, if anything, that would assuage an angry horde of electronically mobilized AR (Assault Rifle) fans. They considered Zumbo's remarks as being tantamount to a sellout, with Zumbo offering up "black rifles" as a sacrificial lamb for anti-gun forces," said the wire service.
The rancor continued with The Shooting Wire founder Jim Shepherd, saying, "We don't owe him our loyalty, our support, or our forgiveness, but we owe him for motivating us to tell the industry they'd better start paying attention to the silent majority.
"Even if you call us 'shooters' or 'paper punchers' or 'plinkers' or whatever, there are many more of us than there are hunters. And we're neither terrorists nor fools."
This is a rift that could continue to grow, and maybe this split was a long time coming. As one bumper-sticker type sign that used to hang in The Island in Libertyville said, "The Second Amendment ain't about duck hunting."
But hunters and shooters regularly mix at shooting clubs like the one in Bristol, Wis., and you have to wonder if animosity between the groups could grow. Shepherd says Zumbo's opinion is common in hard core hunter circles.
I remember one time hunting a piece of land near Richmond and some young guys from Chicago came out as my brothers and I were leaving. One of them had an unusual gun for hunting, a sawed off shotgun. We thought that was stupid, but the Second Amendment doesn't make any distinctions, right?
The AR rifles are accurate weapons and could easily be used for hunting big game like deer, but I'm sure gun manufacturers would suggest a better weapon.
So maybe Zumbo was a dumbo for even going there in a hunting article. These rifles are used in competitions or bought for home security, but is supporting a ban on them the first slide on a slippery slope of having guns outlawed all together? The Assault Weapons Ban was re-introduced in congress this month.
So, now I've written myself into a corner, of sorts. I know someone who shot an automatic (illegal) AK-47 who said it was really cool. He's not and never was in the military. Another friend recently told me of how his daughter, never having shot a gun before, was taken to the range by her boyfriend and "had a blast" shooting different handguns, and, I think, rifles at targets. No blood ... big fun.
But then I go back around to deceased Chicago columnist Mike Royko's column where he suggested that the best in home security for grandma would be hand grenades. If grandma heard someone in the basement, why take the chance of confronting the intruder with a shotgun, or any type of gun.
So now I'm back in that corner again. How much is too much. And if you give a little, will you lose a lot? Is the gun industry going to push more and more "black rifles" and their handgun counterparts because it is a growth field and hunting is supposedly becoming old hat?
So many questions in this controversy, and I'm not finding a bunch of immediate answers. Except, "Leave my gun alone: is different than "Leave my RPG" (Rocket Propelled Grenade) alone.
There has to be a line somewhere. Just where does it start?
Eugene Stoner, who worked for the Fairchild ArmaLite corporation, designed the AR-10, and later AR-15. The "AR", as in "AR-15", stands for "ArmaLite", not "Assault Rifle".
The AR rifles are accurate weapons and could easily be used for hunting big game like deer, but I'm sure gun manufacturers would suggest a better weapon.
Deer isn't the only game people hunt, you myopic imbecile. The AR-15 is chambered for the .223 Remington,which makes an excellent "predator"/varmint cartridge, etc.
I know someone who shot an automatic (illegal) AK-47 who said it was really cool.
What the hell does that have to do with anything?
We aren't talking about fully-automatic firearms.
We are talking about "civilian" AR-15s, and AK-47 "look-alikes" (e.g. WASR-10), which are semi-automatic ONLY. Pull the trigger, and they fire one round, and one round only, just like any bolt-action or lever-action rifle.
If there is a "rift" growing between "hunters" and gun-owners, this article, and Jim Zumbos' blog, are why.
Like Jim Zumbo, the author of this article is completely ignorant about semi-automatic rifles. And yet, both felt eminently qualified to mouth off on a subject they clearly know nothing about.
I call them friend...so what?
Zumbo is an idiot...and Outdoor Life is pure liberal crap from Time Warner.
This is what I posted on the outdoor life forum!
***
Just one final statement.
I've been sitting here getting more and more fed up with all of this talk about these, pieces of machinery, having no legitimate sporting purpose, no legitimate hunting purpose, people, that is not the point of the second amendment!
The second amendment is not about duck hunting, and I know I'm not going to make very many friends saying this, but it's about our right, all of our right to be able to protect our selves from all of you guys up there.
Dr. Suzanna Gratia, Killeen massacre survivor who watched as her parents were murdered because she obeyed Texas law and left her handgun locked in her car. Appearing before Rep Schumer's committee hearings on the assault weapons ban
Here's the video of Suzanne Hupp testifying before congress.
http://www.washingtonceasefire.com/content/view/23/35/
Hell I hunt with my M-14 National Match all the time. I have a 10 round box that is modified to accept only 5 rounds so it conforms to the law. I would love to hunt with my M-1 Garand but I cannot find enbloc's that only hold 5 rounds.
I haven't read Outdoor Life lately. But once upon a time they were very pro Second Amendment. If there are writers on the payroll playing the leftist divide and conquer propaganda...Then it's time to get some new writers.
Now if you add the writer at lake county(dying media) to it you would really be correct. :)
Also, "hunters" need to realize that, to the anti-gunners, a gun is a gun is a gun.
If they doubt this, I suggest they read this entry at the Brady Campaign blog:
The tragic proliferation of Sniper Rifles
Once the evil semi-automatic "assault rifles" are gone, their equally evil bolt-action, scoped "sniper rifles" will be next.
BTW They also want to ban "cop killer" cartridges, which includes the .30-30 Winchester. And they want ban scopes "enabling them to engage targets at distances of well over one hundred meters". And they want to ban slings. And... well, let's just the list of things they don't want to ban is shorter.
This idiot doesn't realize that the inherent accuracy of the.223 AND the AR platform has made it the #1 choice for serious target shooting [see Camp Perry], and the first choice for varmint hunters for prairie dogs on up to coyotes.
Honestly?
The "so what" is that, as "Hunting Editor" for Outdoor Life, and host of a "hunting" show on the Outdoor Channel, Jim Zumbos' words carry far more weight than yours or mine.
In fact, very shortly after Zumbo posted his anti-gun diatribe, the Brady Campaign had picked it up, and was running with it.
I know they exist because I have seen them. Maybe you could make your own by shaping a piece of wood to take up the space of three rounds and glue it into the bottom of the enbloc.
Just a thought.
No there doesn't. It's because of idiots who think like this that there are senseless lines, like handguns not being allowed for hunting deer, Or handguns not being allowed to be discharged on private property in some urban areas, but shotguns and bows are.
Are there ever any gun shows within driving range?
I've seen 2-rd "hunting" en-bloc clips, at gun shows.
"We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily -- given the political realities -- going to be very modest ...
So then we'll have to start working again to strengthen the law, and then again to strengthen the next law, and maybe again and again.
Right now, though, we'd be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice.
Our ultimate goal -- total control of handguns in the United States -- is going to take time ....
The first problem is to slow down the increasing number of guns being produced and sold in this country.
The second problem is to get handguns registered.
And the final problem is to make the possession of *all* handguns and *all* handgun ammunition -- except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors -- totally illegal." --
Pete Shields, Chairman Emeritus, Handgun Control, Inc. ( "The New Yorker", July 26, 1976 )
I have an AR-15 with a 20" chrome lined match barrel,
split mating pins for the upper and lower receivers and a 2.8 - 9 X scope. With my match grade hand loads I can shoot 1/2" - 3/4" groups all day long at 100m with just the handguard resting on a sandbag. It is an extremely accurate weapon, especially given the fact that it is semi-automatic.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MAG244-1588-1351.html
And guess what those 'sniper rifles' would be ... that's right -- ALL Rifles above .22LR with a Scope. And it's all due to this ijit Zumbo.
The Brady Bunch is now on MySpace and this little tidbit calling for the ban of "Sniper Rifles" was on their Blog yesterday.
Naturally it was mentioned that a 30-30 is a 'Cop Killer Bullet' (as are all hunting calibers - duh) and that was another factor why all these 'sniper rifles' should be banned. (no 'legitimate' purpose, blah, blah)
Amazing how an organization that starts out 'only' wanting "sensible handgun control laws" goes to wanting ALL Rifles banned isn't it?
NOT !!
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