(which I assume the NRA was largely responsible for implementing... please correct me if I'm wrong!)
Posted on 03/20/2007 6:19:04 AM PDT by holymoly
BEFORE today's presidential candidates go courting the National Rifle Association for support (witness Mitt Romney's sudden enrollment), they should be aware of the case of Jim Zumbo. One of nation's most famous and respected hunting and outdoors journalists, Zumbo was professionally assassinated by NRA hysteria for simply uttering a single and — many hunters would say — reasonable point of view.
Returning from a weekend hunting trip in which he witnessed people using semiautomatic, military-style weapons to hunt varmints, Zumbo dashed off a column for his blog on Outdoor Life in which he played devil's advocate, suggesting these weapons are not appropriate for hunting.
The reaction was swift — and brutal. The NRA whipped up a frenzy on the blogosphere, where a rabid fringe element of the hunting community denounced Zumbo in the harshest terms, even attacking his patriotism. Bowing to the intense pressure, Outdoor Life magazine fired Zumbo from his writing job, where he had won a huge following. The gun-company sponsors of Zumbo's highly rated weekly television show promptly pulled their support, thus killing the program. The NRA very publicly suspended all ties with Zumbo and cited the incident as a warning to anyone — "even fellow gun owners" — who might cross its powerful lobby.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
FYI Ray Schoenke is the president of the "American Hunters and Shooters Association", which appears to be a gun-control organization. E.G. The AHSA supports bans on semi-automatic "assault weapons", so-called "cop killer bullets", etc.
In short, he's Sarah Brady, masquerading as a "hunter", "sportsman", "gun owner", etc.
Ray Schoenke is also a liar.
Those familiar with the Zumbo debacle know that the response to Zumbos' reprehensible comments was entirely grassroots. The word was spread by individuals, posting to gun forums such as AR15.com and Surplusrifle.com, as well as here at Free Republic.
IIRC The NRA was among the last to sever its' ties with Zumbo, days after others had already done so (Remington Arms, Mossy Oak, etc.).
The Second Amendment is not about hunting, much as the Left would like to convince us otherwise.
The American Hunters and Shooters Association is a sheep in wolf's clothing.
Real hunters and shooters take great care not to pay any attention to the opinions of "journalists" from Seattle...
Like I said, a sheep in wolf's clothing.
Anybody who wants a good semi automatic rifle for hunting would make a good choice with a so-called "assault rifle'
The size of the clip and the number of rounds is limited by law for any long gun used in hunting including the so-called "assault rifles".
And these rifles are light and easy to carry and are excellent for hunting.
If this hunting expert couldnt see the obvious and bought the propaganda of the assault media, then he deserved to get canned.
Well, then, the local sport shooters' association needs to call the paper on this right away and demand an opportunity to respond.
An AK47-style rifle is not appropriate if you're trying to pick off a prairie dog at 1000 yards.
It's entirely appropriate, however, for the type of hunting the Second Amendment is intended to protect.
As a member of the NRA, any one of my guns could be a "cop killer" but I'd first have to aim and fire them at a cop. The guns, on their own, can't kill anyone or any thing.
There are several questions I would like to ask Mr. Schoenke. E.G.:
There are an estimated 80 million gun-owners in the United States.
Of these 80 million, exactly how many did Field & Stream "poll"?
Was the Field & Stream "poll" limited to readers/subscribers?
Is the average subscriber to Field & Stream jealous of their Second Amendment rights?
Or are they they type who thinks the Second Amendment exists to protect the non-existent "right to hunt"?
My letter to the editor...
Sirs,
A cardinal rule of any firearms related activity is that alcohol and guns don't mix.
Ray Schoenke must have been drunk when he wrote his article blasting the NRA over the Zumbo affair.
I would recommend that anyone interested in what happened over Zumbo to do a Google search and read Zumbo's article for themselves. He did not write as a 'Devil's Advocate', his own apologies make it clear that he wrote what he did out of ignorance and arrogance. He repeatedly referred to the popular civilian AR-15 style rifles as terrorist’s weapons.
The NRA was still rubbing the sleep from their eyes as Zumbo was brought down by the web denizens of AR15.com, glocktalk.com, freerepublic.com and others. The NRA was so far behind the curve on Zumbo, all they could do was pile on days later.
Our fathers and grandfathers preferred the WWII arms and ammunitions when they came home from Europe and the South Pacific, today's hunters and sport shooters are drawn to the rifle and ammo they used in Vietnam and the Middle East.
Why doesn't Schoenke drop the lies and distortions and tell us what his real agenda is?
TC Rider
Whenever we see the newspeak phrases, "military style assault weapons", "cop killer bullets", "Saturday night Special", we know the the gun-banning, nanny-state Orwellians are upon us.
He knows it. However, many people reading his article may not.
Which is why we need to dissect his article, and tear him a new one. ;o)
A custom built AR 15 in .223 is VERY appropriate for prairie dogs, and, at least in New York, is considered an assault rifle.
Bullseye!
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