Outdoor Life And Jim Zumbo Part Ways

http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/columnists/article/0,19912,1592623,00.html ^ | 2/25/07 | Outdoor Life Editor

[Mike THE BEAR Chavez]

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.

[Jezebelle]

Correct. No company, no matter what they're selling, should keep a business relationship with somebody who pisses off the customer base.

[Lurker]

And I reckon when things settle down more than a few good-hearted gun owners will be ashamed of how Zumbo was treated.

Then I guess I'm a hard hearted SOB because I sure don't cotton to anyone calling me a terrorist.

L

[RegulatorCountry]

Thank you. It's such a basic tenet of business (or politics) that I'm surprised at having to explain it to anyone on Free Republic, of all places.

[Jezebelle]

He's entitled to give his opinion about what equipment is suitable for what, but he went WAY over the line when he went on to say they should be banned by government and that they're terrorist weapons, so I agree 100% with your conclusion.

I don't like the use of the term "firearms fraternity." The Second Amendment applies to every American citizen, not just the 90M+ gun owners. The term tends to isolate gun owners which is not beneficial to support for the Second Amendment and rolling back intrusive and restrictive gun laws.

[Jezebelle]

You're welcome.

One wonders if he'd say the same thing if some breakfast bar or cereal company (say Kellogg's) canned some well-known sports figure spokesperson for posting that cereal is the breakfast of terrorists rather than the breakfast of champions, and that it's an unnecessary, dangerous product.

Disassociating from Zumbo was a no-brainer and denyting that shows just what ridiculous lengths people will go to in order to avoid admitting the truth when it doesn't suit whatever axe they want to grind.

[Lurker]

The Second Amendment applies to every American citizen, not just the 90M+ gun owners.

Spot on ma'am.

And Mr. Zumbo is indeed entitled to his own opinions. I would never deny him that. But we as American citizens who care passionately about the BOR are equally entitled to raise all kinds of Hell when he throws us under the bus.

As I said, I sincerely hope he realizes the damage he's caused and that he'll now become as fervent a supporter of the 2nd as Mr. Nugent is. We can use all the help we can get, that's for sure.

But he's going to have to work pretty hard to earn that forgiveness. That 'terrorist' crack was way over the line as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe the crowd Mr. Zumbo runs with wouldn't dare be seen in the woods with a Czech SKS, but I know plenty of folks who put meat on their tables with just such a rifle.

L

[Jezebelle]

Agreed. The "terrorist" remark was unconscionable, especially when one considers how many former servicemen, who put their lives on the line to defend this great country, are sportsmen and shooters. And the government-banning remark was downright Marxism.

I don't like thinking about all the money we've put into the pocket of such a person. He needs to start his mea culpa with a HUGE donation to gun rights advocacy.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..if it's "selling out" and "cowardice," to sever ties with a writer who terms a product they manufacture a "terrorist" weapon, I just wonder how you'd define courage...

LOL! 'Courage'? Don't flatter Remington, pal.

A few frightened e-mails back and forth to their PR firm doesn't constitute courage.

[Jezebelle]

Don't count on that. Some may forgive him, but it will not be with any remorse because Zumbo crossed so far over the line with the remark about "terrorist" and that government should ban semi-automatic rifles he deserves what he gets. He revealed himself as a fraud so any forgiveness coming his way from gun owners will not be out of chagrin for calling a spade a spade.

[Lancey Howard]

HERE is a pretty good synopsis of the Jim Zumbo controversy. He's certainly entitled to his opinion that he prefers traditional hunting rifles for hunting, but when he wrote, "I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods," that was a brutal mistake. He should have known better than to use the word "ban" under any circumstance.

I happen to agree with Jim regarding his preference for more traditional firearms - - in fact I'll go a step further and declare that I have the highest respect for bow hunters - - but I certainly have no beef with people who prefer to hunt with military rifles. I just think it's cheesy, that's all.

[Jezebelle]

The decision has nothing to do with courage or cowardice. Jettisoning Zumbo was a sound business decision similarly made by small businesses and global corporations thousands of times a day.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...within hours his words were used as fodder by the brady bunch against "assault weapons"...

Big deal.

Those scumbags will use anything they think they can exploit. Matter of fact your comment is very Zumbo-like, FB. He wanted black rifles out of hunting because of bad PR, you're complaining the brady bunch used Zumbo for bad PR.

[MadIvan]

"The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones, so let it be with Zumbo..."

Regards, Ivan

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..,BUT he made the huge mistake of pressing "Enter" when a bit steamed up...

Of course he did.

....we've all done it...

Of course we've all made mistakes. Let he who is without sin...

....but his audience is/was huge so he brought it upon himself and, as a professional writer in the wired world should've known better....

Being a professional writer doesn't make him mistake-proof.

[Jezebelle]

Your link doesn't work.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...do you like being called a terrorist by somebody who's supposedly on your side...

He never called you (or anyone else) a terrorist.

You guys just making stuff up, now?

[Jezebelle]

You didn't just call yourself a 'scumbag', did you?

[Lurker]

In this case a little healthy fear is a very, very good thing. Remington was quite right to wet their pants at the reaction of the gun buying public in this country.

They saw what happened to Smith and Wesson after they sold out to the Clinton Administration. Americans simply stopped buying their products and damn near bankrupted them.

It's also the height of not only stupidity but hubris to call a bunch of your readers and viewers 'terrorists' and talk about banning their firearms.

I sincerely hope Mr. Zumbo realizes the seriousness of his errors and now will become every bit as passionate about other peoples choice in firearms as he is about his own.

If the does that, he can earn his forgiveness. But considering the fact that the Brady folks were trumpeting his words almost within 24 hours of him having published them, that's going to be a pretty tough row to hoe.

This is as it should be. We American gun owners are a pretty sensitive lot. After all we've seen what has happened to British and Aussie gun owners and we don't want to take one more single step down that road.

Anyone who claims to be 'on our side' and then stabs us in the back is going to be the recipient of a major sh** storm. This is also as it should be.

Remington did the right thing. It's supremely stupid to call the people who sign your paycheck 'terrorists'.

L

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...he went WAY over the line when he went on to say they should be banned by government...

Zumbo never said that.

What's the matter with you people? Hounding Zumbo out of a job isn't enough to satisfy your thirst for vengeance, so now you have to manufacture evidence?

[Jezebelle]

This really isn't about just making an innocent mistake. It's about fraud - not as a crime but as a matter of ethics. If you disagree with the hand that feeds you, get off that food chain. Don't take the food and then bite the hand that served it.