Posted on 05/22/2003 10:04:56 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Gun-rights advocates are miffed at Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne and CNN over a recent TV segment that National Rifle Association officials characterize as a virtual political ad for extending a federal ban on some semi-automatic weapons.
Officials of both CNN and the sheriff's office contend they never intended to mislead viewers and say any flaws in the broadcast were accidental.
CNN has since broadcast follow-up reports that satisfied both sides as fair and balanced.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said many members are still irate over the original segment, which aired Thursday.
''Either it was deliberate or there was a complete lack of understanding of the entire issue as it relates to the legislation in Congress,'' said La-Pierre, who has appeared on CNN to discuss the piece.
At issue is a 1994 ban on 19 types of semi-automatic firearms, a measure that will expire just before the presidential election unless Congress acts to extend it. Gun-control supporters want it extended and even broadened. Gun-rights supporters say the ban is misguided, misunderstood and pointless.
BSO and CNN stepped into the fray Thursday with footage of an on-air demonstration purportedly designed to show the difference between banned weapons and their legal counterparts.
When a BSO employee fired a banned weapon, the camera showed bullets ripping through a cinderblock target. When a legal semi-automatic weapon was fired, the camera showed another cinderblock seemingly unharmed.
In fact, the bullets from the legal gun never hit the cinderblock. CNN spokesman Matthew Furman said the camera operator didn't realize the sheriff's employee had switched targets and was firing into the ground.
''When we learned that the demonstration was less than clear, we told our viewers that,'' Furman said.
The comparison seemed to imply the banned weapon packed more punch than its legal counterpart. In fact, the two are the same in terms of firepower.
NRA officials also protested the use of a fully automatic AK-47 in the piece and the reporter's claim that it was among the targets of the 1994 ban. Fully automatic weapons have been regulated since 1934 and aren't mentioned in the 1994 law.
Sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal said Jenne favors extending the 1994 ban but never meant to misinform the CNN audience by participating in the Thursday segment.
''There was never any intent to mislead,'' Leljedal said. ``They wanted to talk about it, so we did, and on very short notice we got some guns out and we did some demonstrations for them.''
Three years ago, Jenne backed an unsuccessful bill that would have made it a felony to own an assault weapon in Broward County. Hundreds of gun owners bearing American flags packed into a Broward legislative delegation hearing to oppose it.
Jenne now joins many other law-enforcement leaders and President Bush in suppporting the extension of the 1994 ban.
''The idea is that these weapons . . . will penetrate a bulletproof vest, they will go through a concrete block. And that's what our homes are made of,'' Leljedal said.
NRA leaders say the 19 banned weapons are basically identical to other, equally powerful weapons that are legal. They contend gun-control lobbyists and the news media have blurred the debate by suggesting the ban covers a broader range of weapons.
''We believe this ban was lied into law 10 years ago,'' La-Pierre said. ``The proponents of the ban misrepresented the issue to the American public in the most calculated and deliberate terms.''
CNN followed up the Thursday broadcast with a taped report that aired twice Monday in the same time period and explained the ban in its full complexity.
That, said Furman of CNN, was ``a reflection of our desire to always be forthcoming, to always air all sides.''
BULLSH*T!!!
"When we learned that the demonstration was less than clear, we told our viewers that,'' Furman said.
BULLSH*T! You were forced to back down when Wayne LaPierre EXPOSED your FRAUD.
"There was never any intent to mislead,'' Leljedal said.
BULLSH*T!!!
That, said Furman of CNN, was ``a reflection of our desire to always be forthcoming, to always air all sides.''
BULLSH*T!!! You only aired the correction because Wayne LaPierre CORRECTLY exposed your FRAUD on the air.
So WHO ordered Deputy Chris Worth to fire into the ground? I don't buy that he just chose to fire into the ground on his own. Why would anyone even fire into the ground unless they were TOLD to do so?
Gosh-darnit, the idiot just WON'T STOP LYING!
1. irrespective of the type of firearm used, pre-ban or ban-compliant, the rounds fired are the same and have the same ballistic and impact characteristics. The 1994 AWB has NO relation to the rounds used, so this argument is pure fluff.
2. On top of the fluff is yet more misleading description: "The idea is that these weapons... they will go through a concrete block. And that's what our homes are made of" Oh, Lord, spare me the posturings of liars! Very few types of rounds for shoulder-arms are capable of penetrating CEMENT blocks... and the 7.62x39mm is NOT among their small number. Nor is the 7.62x54mm nor the 5.56/.223cal. The .50cal BMG? Certainly. Not these others. There is a WORLD of difference between cement blocks and CINDER-BLOCKS.
Let me get this straight. CNN does a comparison between two weapons to see the performance characteristics of each. During the demonstration, however, it never occurs to them than the sheriff's employee didn't shoot at the same target, thus rendering the "comparison" useless. And it didn't occur to the sheriff, either? Or the spotter for the sheriff's employee? Or the cameraman? Or the author of this travesty? Sure. Right. Whatever.
After the sheriff's "employee" fired into the ground, everyone just stood there and did nothing? Is that what CNN is saying? They're saying that no one noticed that he didn't hit the cinder blocks at all?
If so, they're blind and stupid. If not, they're lying through their idiot liberal teeth. I opt for the second option.
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