Hmmm, What Does This Say to You?

This past Tuesday, my local daily newspaper ran an article on the anti-gun ownership rallies sponsored by Jesse Jackson, the Brady Campaign and the Million Mom March. Now, this article had some information spouted out by the attendees that was flat out false. They stated hunters do not use “assault weapons” to hunt. I sent an e-mailed letter pointing out the fallacy of this statement. There are people who use what these groups define as an assault weapon to hunt everything from squirrels to deer to moose and elk. I received an automated reply stating that they had received my letter. However, to date, no letters to the editor dealing with this event have been published by the paper.

Another thing struck me as odd about this article. There were no conflicting viewpoints included from people who oppose what these groups advocate. I was listening to NPR and an interview with Alan Alda (yes, I listen to NPR and conservative talk radio both). He stated that he had to read news from multiple sources to get the whole story because reporters have gotten lazy. Rather than getting at least two sources, they instead go with one easy to reach source (that often matches their views). I actually do the same thing. It is the only way to get the whole story anymore.

On a related note, a local conservative talk show host asked the co-president of the Texas Million Mom March chapter a simple question. “What do you consider an assault weapon?” She hemmed and hawed, then admitted she didn’t know. How can anyone advocate the banning of something when they don’t even know what it is they are banning?  I know what the military definition of this term is (a weapon that is able to be fired in either full-auto or semi-automatic modes).  I was left with the impression that they really don’t want to ban “assault weapons.” I think they really want to ban all firearms.

Cross-posted to:
My LJ
LJ Community Guns
Bear’s Mad Grumblings (Blog)