Zumbo Letter to CCRKBA (Promises to become gun banners' worst nightmare)

Mr. Alan Gottlieb, Chairman
Citizens Committee for the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
12500 N.E. Tenth Place
Bellevue, WA 98005

Dear Alan:

They say that hindsight is always 20-20. In my case, hindsight has been a hard teacher, like the father teaching the son a lesson about life in the wood shed.

I was wrong when I recently suggested that wildlife agencies should ban semiautomatic firearms I erroneously called “assault rifles” for hunting. I insulted legions of my fellow gun owners in the process by calling them “terrorist rifles.” I can never apologize enough for having worn blinders when I should have been wearing bifocals.

But unlike those who would destroy the Second Amendment right to own a firearm – any firearm – I have learned from my embarrassing mistake. My error should not be used, as it has been in recent days by our common enemies, in an effort to dangerously erode our right to keep and bear arms.

I would hope instead to use this spotlight to address my hunting fraternity, many of whom shared my erroneous position. I am a hunter and like many others I had the wrong picture in mind. I associated these firearms with military action, and saw not hunting as I have known it, not the killing of a varmint, but the elimination of the entire colony. Nothing could be further from the truth, but I know from whence it comes. This ridiculous image, formed in the blink of an eye, exerts and unconscious effect on all decisions that follow. In seeking to protect our hunting rights by guarding how we are seen in the public eye, I lost sight of the larger picture; missed the forest for the trees.

My own lack of experience was no excuse for ignoring the fact that millions of Americans – people who would share a campfire or the shelter of their tent, and who have hurt nobody – own, hunt with and competitively shoot or collect the kinds of firearms I so easily dismissed.

I recently took a “crash course” on these firearms with Ted Nugent, to learn more about them and to educate myself. In the process, I learned about the very real threat that faces all American gun owners.

I’ve studied up on legislation now in Congress that would renew and dangerously expand a ban on many types of firearms. The bill, HR 1022 sponsored by New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, is written so broadly that it would outlaw numerous firearms and accessories, including a folding stock for a Ruger rifle. I understand that some of the language could ultimately take away my timeworn and cherished hunting rifles and shotguns as well as those of all American hunters.

The extremist supporters of HR 1022 don’t want to stop criminals. They want to invent new ones out of people like you and me with the simple stroke of a pen. They will do anything they can to make it impossible for more and more American citizens to legally own any firearm.

Realizing that what I wrote catered to this insidious attack on fellow gun owners has, one might say, “awakened a sleeping giant within me, and filled him with a terrible resolve.”

I made a mistake. But those who would use my remarks to further their despicable political agenda have made a bigger one. I hope to become their worst nightmare. I admit I was wrong. They insist they are right.

Enclosed, you will find a check that is intended to be used to fight and defeat HR 1022. I also hope it inspires other gun owners to “do as I do, not as I say.”

I’m putting my money where my mouth should have been, and where my heart and soul have always been. I know the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting and never has been. My blunder was in thinking that by working to protect precious hunting rights I was doing enough. I promise it will never happen again.

I don’t know what lies over the horizon for me. I am not ready for the rocking chair.

I’m going to devote every ounce of my energy to this battle. I will remind my fellow hunters that we are first, gun owners. Whether we like it or not, our former apathy and prejudices may place that which we love, hunting, in jeopardy. I will educate fellow outdoorsmen who mistakenly think like I talked, even if I have to visit every hunting camp and climb into every duck blind and deer stand in this country to get it done. I was wrong, and I’m going to make it right.

Sincerely,

In seeking to protect our hunting rights by guarding how we are seen in the public eye, I lost sight of the larger picture; missed the forest for the trees.

Actually, hunting is a privilege, and not a right, just like driving a car. The government has total control over both, and grants you the privilege in exchange for paying taxes on it, and conforming to the government's rules.

The Second Amendment is a genuine right that comes from God. The government acknowledges that right as something it will not infringe upon, because it pre-exists the government itself. This particular right enables you to take effective measures to protect your life from criminals and government-gone-bad.

And while I love blued-steel-and-quality-walnut, I still have some weapons stocked in black or OD plastic, for reasons I don't have to explain to anybody. Just remember, when the gun-grabbers spout the "they never would have approved the Second Amendment if they knew then what we know now" BS, that the "American rifle" was the high-velocity, high precision "sniper rifle" of its day that terrorized Redcoats armed with smoothebore muskets.

Much better (though at first he still seems fixated on hunting.)

I wonder if he read a certain poist here, or the same posted at the Nugent site (And I also posted on his own blog before it was pulled that he should meet with Gottlieb):

To: bad company
Jim Zumbo's REAL Apology
(hypothetical, but Jim, this is $50k worth of consultant wisdom.)

If my dog digs up my neighbor's flowerbeds, I apologize. But if expect my neighbor to accept my apology, I have to do two more things: I have to take action to fix the underlying problem (maybe a broken fence), and I have to correct the damage I caused (putting in new flowers).

Everyone knows I regret writing with such hostility toward military style rifles. I apologized for that. Twice. But I my apologies failed because they didn't address my underlying problem, or correct the damage I caused.

Yes, I said "my problem." I learned that I have a problem. A black hole of ignorance that needed correction. So I took the advice of a friend, and spoke to Aaron Zelman, founder and President of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. Which seemed like an odd combination until Aaron shared some history with me.

You see, even being an acclaimed firearms "expert" for decades didn't make me an expert in history, the Constitution, and the reason why our patriotic founders gave us a Second Amendment (to affirm our God-given right as free people to secure our freedom against all possible threats, including our own government.)

And sadly, I don't think I was alone, because there are millions of hunters out there who don't vote, or vote for candidates who would destroy the one right that secures liberty for us and for all generations through the ages.

It's not about hunting. Sure back in colonial times, nearly everybody hunted. They had to. But the Bill of Rights didn't protect the right to keep and bear arms for hunting. No, it protected it because it was "necessary to the security of a free State." Freedom. Not recreation, bonding, even putting food on the table. Freedom.

So it really doesn't matter whether an AK-47 knock-off has a "sporting purpose," or is appropriate for hunting. That is the wrong question (which is why my apologizing for getting the wrong answer was so meaningless to those who understand gun rights.) The real question is whether a particular "arm" is useful for defending freedom.

That's what I learned the Supreme Court ruled back in the "Miller case" in the 1930s. (You know, it's funny but sad that the only "Miller case" most hunters know about has a dozen golden cans inside - but I'm going to help change that.) The Miller ruling said that guns could not be banned or heavily taxed if they had some military usefulness.

Do you realize what this means? It means that even machine guns and flamethrowers, even grenades should not be restricted. Of course, they are, but now I'm going to help fight that. But the point is that these things having nothing to do with hunting either (and I don't suggest using a flame thrower on your next duck-hunting trip.)

So now I get it. But I don't think enough other hunters do. And some hunters might even think I was a nut for associating with the machine-gun guys (who happen to be among the most prosperous, successful, law-abiding segment of our society). But I'd rather be unpopular than wrong (I was wrong for far too many years while I was popular to care any more.)

So I have "fixed the fence." I have cured my ignorance.

Now, I need to correct the damage. It turns out that there are anti-gun (anti-hunting, anti-liberty, anti-rights) organizations out there who are using MY WORDS to try to take away YOUR RIGHTS! When I learned that, I was heartbroken, feeling like a traitor to the nation I love. I could not walk away from that damage, so I will do all I can to fight for your gun rights.

So, I will be offering at no charge to write articles and columns for any gun magazine who will print my words on what hunters need to learn about our right to keep and bear arms. I will speak out at schools and clubs on why the second amendment matters far more than tagging a big buck.

I will work with the leaders for gun rights (JPFO, GOA, NRA, and many state organizations) on their political efforts to restore our gun rights.

And I will educate myself as a citizen about the other Constitutional rights we enjoy, so that I can be vigilant on all fronts.

So this is not the end, this is the beginning of a new chapter for me.

And I guess when it comes down to it, what I have just written isn't even an apology, because I have simply told you what I have done, how I have changed, and what I am going to do. You can forgive me if you wish, but I don't need your forgiveness.

What I need is your help. Help with a hunt far more important than any I have ever attempted. A hunt to restore and protect our liberties.

--Jim Zumbo
107 posted on 02/22/2007 12:52:58 PM PST by Beelzebubba (Your FRiendly FReeper Patent Attorney)
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