Jim Zumbo enjoying the benefits of being an outdoor writer -->
A friend of mine who is an avid hunter and gun enthusiast, came over last night and said, "Did you hear about that columnist at Outdoor Life?"
I hadn't, but a quick google check showed that a heck of a lot of other people had.
Jim Zumbo is one of those lucky people who makes a living writing about hunting and fishing, which of course requires that you hunt and fish, usually all over the country. A few days ago, he wrote a piece in his blog (since taken down) that called the AR-15 and AK-47 clones "assault rifles" and "terrorist rifles" and calling for them to be banned.
The response was swift and decisive. Various forums and blogs passed the information around like a nerve impulse and generated a flood of outraged email to Outdoor Life.
Zumbo apologized, then apologized again, the again, but it was too late. Zumbo was fired from Outdoor Life. He lost his sponsors at Remington, Mossy Oak (they make camouflage hunting clothes) and he's on the verge of losing a television production deal with Cabelas.
Some outdoor columnist have found the reaction appalling.
OK. Fair enough. Zumbo stepped on the Second Amendment. He was wrong. We get it. But maybe his attackers should consult a mirror. How might their rants affect the 85 percent of Americans who seldom consider our issues? What would those millions think of all the hostile, aggressive, downright mean and nasty comments made by people hiding behind nicknames?
He may have a point, but the real lesson here is how incredibly intense the feeling about firearms are the implications for the political process. The Clinton administration rode the gun control issue long and hard but ultimately concluded that it was a political loser.
"James Carville, the raging Cajun, defender of Bill Clinton, said, 'I don't think there's a Second Amendment right to own a gun, but I think it's a loser political issue.' "Actually, I had a little bit more to say. I said, what I said after that last line, "But I think it's a loser political issue. I think the issue has not been good for us.
The last two presidential elections have seen Democrats go out of their way to reassure hunters that they were no threat to their rights, culminating in John Kerry being photographed duck hunting in clothes that still had the price tags affixed.
Zumbo fell afoul of a curious hypersensitivity withing the firearms enthusiast and hunting communities. Privately, hunters have little use for people who don't use the same equipment as they do. Zumbo expressed a not uncommon sentiment about military-style rifles among purists, but the awareness that Democrats lie in wait to disarm the country for nefarious reasons has resulted in a formidable rhetorical discipline--speak no ill of your fellow hunter's choice of weapon.
An even more carefully guarded sentiment is that lies behind the popularity of military-style rifles is that we may need them some day, a state of mind explored in Orson Scott Card's Empire series. Many conservatives fully expect that the current political polarization will eventually lead to bloodshed, particularly if Hillary Clinton becomes president.
That might seem kooky, but Waco opened a lot of minds to the possibility.
Posted by Mick Stockinger on February 26, 2007 10:56 AM
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Comments (1)
Let me see now . . . this thing has a trigger (firing mechanism), a barrel, a stock/grip and it fires projectiles . . . so it is called a "gun" which includes everything from a missile launcher to a BB gun, be it a pistol, revolver or rifle. It could be mounted on an airplane, tank, water vessel or inside your pocket.
The gun banners only focus on "civilian" weapons. But it is perfectly OK for these same gun banners to sanction weapons of mass destruction! Why? They are either stupid civilians or idealogs who want your freedom on a silver platter!
Americans - Beware of BOTH!
Posted by Bumper Guy! | February 26, 2007 9:00 PM
Posted on February 26, 2007 21:00