Assault Rifles for Hunting

Since crawling out of my cocoon of ignorance regarding mainstream media I have been trying to keep up with important issues facing America and the World in general. Still refusing to watch televised news, reading daily newspapers or weekly magazines that all seem robot-driven to me has led me to find alternate sources for my news.

Although I am not a hunter and truly abhor the killing of anything, today I read a simple AP thread that floored me. Not only was I curious for more information regarding this ordeal, I was quite angry also.

Long-time avid hunter and outdoorsman Jim Zumbo, who is, excuse me, WAS connected with Outdoor Life magazine/channel, Remington Corporation amongst other organizations for his livelihood got taught a very hard lesson recently. Mr. Zumbo who has been termed the most influential hunting writer in the world made the following statement recently on his blogspot on OutdoorLife.com:

As I write this, I'm hunting coyotes in southeastern Wyoming with Eddie Stevenson, PR Manager for Remington Arms, Greg Dennison, who is senior research engineer for Remington, and several writers. We're testing Remington's brand new .17 cal Spitfire bullet on coyotes.

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.

I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers."

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."

This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.

Okay, Jim, sounds like good advice to me. But what do I know - since I am not a hunter, avid or otherwise.

It WAS, however, too much for gun-toters (owners) everywhere. Apparently thousands or more, maybe, were very upset with Mr. Zumbo's opinion. I will go so far as to state that many felt threatened with their *gasp* Right To Bear Arms. So many were incensed by this inflammatory opinion of Mr. Zumbo's that sponsors threatened to pull advertising, readers were ready to stop subscribing and reading and so on and so forth. I think you get the idea.

Ignorant knuckle-dragger's who just cannot fathom that maybe not all guns are for everyone! Cavemen and women who think they might lose their right to bear arms, while stealing Mr. Zumbo's right to an opinion AND to make a living in this country. It almost sounds awfully similar to the Dixie Chicks several years ago and President Bush. Thank goodness, the statement made about Texas and our illustrious leader didn't ruin the Chicks permanently.

Despite Mr. Zumbo's profound apologies, which to this author were not needed, he still found it necessary to resign his post at Outdoor Life. This after the Remington Corporation pulled their sponsorship amongst several others. Outdoor Life has since redacted the original blog and in it's place has offered a lame excuse for the parting of their ways. A similar statement can be found on the Remington Corporation website as well.

What surprises me the most and shouldn't, I suppose, is when you Google Jim Zumbo's name. There are tons of personal blogs that one can link to ranting on about and decrying this man for his opinion. For gosh sakes, how many guns can anyone own and use at one time. And what do those prairie dogs look like after an AK-47 or AR-15 has taken it's toll? And why are praire dogs hunted to begin with? Seems to me that it would be no sport to hunt them. Hey what do I know though.

Since when is it okay to ruin someone's life or at the very least livelihood because of an opinion? According to the First Amendment, Americans are guaranteed the right to Freedom of Speech. I believe this includes personal opinions, does it not? But those that think the Second Amendment is God's law don't seem to care one iota. Apparently Mr. Zumbo's opinion was taken a bit too literally and too many felt their right to bear arms was going to disappear. I personally did not read that much into the blogspot, but then again let me state I am not a hunter or gun owner.

So as stated in my email to the Editor-in-Chief of Outdoor Life. "Although I am female and do not hunt at all, I am incensed by your companies' actions" "I feel that a bunch of butt-kissing (using a stronger descriptor) sissy boy, knuckle-draggers have begun a witch hunt for one man's opinion." "Mr. Editor, are you the head knuckle-dragger leading this witch hunt?" I have yet to receive a response, but then again I never really expected one.

Since 9/11 happened, no one is free to express any opinion that isn't positive to our country's current state of affairs among many subjects. When will this type of behavior no longer be condoned or tolerated? When will contempt stop being the major emotion of the masses? If we continue to do nothing, pretty soon I can envision citizens being labeled treasonous for their opinions or criticism, whatever the subject matter.

Anyone hear George Orwell's voice fading in the background?