Wounded Warrior ‘gun snub’ flap draws in knife rights advocate

What is being defined as a “snub” of Gun Talk – the popular syndicated national Sunday radio program – by the popular Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has ignited a fury in the firearms community, and late Wednesday afternoon, this column learned that the Knife Rights organization has also entered the fray.

Doug Ritter, chairman and executive director of the activist knife group, confirmed to Examiner via e-mail that he had sent a letter to WWP Public Affairs Director Leslie A. Coleman, questioning what he called the “irrational basis” of what appears to be “discrimination towards firearms and, by association, the industry and (gun) owners.”

Ritter was honored as the recipient of the 2012 Bill of Rights award at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in September.

The Wounded Warrior Project has been highly praised for its work with members of the armed forces who have suffered physical or emotional trauma in war zones. The organization has made a considerable difference in the lives of injured and disabled veterans and their families, according to testimonials.

The flap began when Gun Talk host Tom Gresham learned to his astonishment that WWP was turning down his request for an interview on his program to help boost support for the project from American gun owners. According to my colleague, David Codrea and The Daily Caller, Gresham was advised that “WWP does not co-brand, create cause marketing campaigns or receive a percentage or a portion of proceeds from companies in which the product or message is sexual, political or religious in nature, or from alcohol or firearms companies.”

The melodrama is playing out on Gun Talk’s Facebook page, and at The Gun Wire. Gresham, who sits on the Knife Rights board of directors, has hosted the Gun Talk program for several years.

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Veteran Groups and More - This Week on Gun Talk Radio

Mandeville, LA – It’s clarification from the Wounded Warrior Project, a firearms engraver, the founder of MarineParents.com, and more, this week on Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk® Radio, the original nationally-syndicated radio talk show about guns and the shooting sports.

The CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), Steven Nardizzi, will be a guest on this Sunday’s show. This follows a week where show host Tom Gresham shared his email exchange with the PR director of WWP in which she indicated that the organization does not do interviews with media or appear at events which are related to guns. This set off a firestorm of reaction by hunters and shooters, many of whom have donated to help wounded veterans as well as putting on fundraising hunts and shoots for the WWP.

“I’m really glad that the Wounded Warrior Project is coming on the show to clarify their position on this,” said Gresham. “It has been really confusing to see them taking donations from firearms manufacturers as well as hunting groups, and then to be told that they won’t appear in public with us. The latest communication from WWP is that this is all a big mistake and that they want to clear it up with me this Sunday. “

Also on this Sunday, it’s the founder of MarineParents.com, Tracy Della Vecchia. Originally founded in “response to parents’ needs to find information and to Connect & Share® with one another during deployments”, MarineParents.com’s services and programs have now expanded “to support Marines, and to support and educate Marine families.” One such program is Purple Heart Hero Support, which provides assistance and services to wounded Marines. For more information, and to donate or volunteer, visit http://www.marineparents.com/.

Guest Noelle Feucht is a busy woman. She is the CFO and jewelry designer at AKR, and moonlights as a hand engraver of firearms focusing on the old world Bulino style, and specializing in “reproduction and restoration work from the 1800’s”. To see some examples of her engravings, visit http://engravingbynoelle.com/engravings.

Trijicon’s Tom Munson stops by this Sunday as well, with what’s new in the world of optics, including a Crossbow ACOG with a range finder. For more info, visit https://www.trijicon.com.

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