National Media Finally Wrote on it!
And the national media has it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17307316/
Apparently, the NRA has trained us to attack without mercy, lol.
WP: Gun remark kills outdoorsman's career
Criticism of hunters who use assault rifles puts writer's career in jeopardy
By Blaine Harden
The Washington Post
Updated: 12:22 a.m. ET Feb 24, 2007
SEATTLE - Modern hunters rarely become more famous than Jim Zumbo. A mustachioed, barrel-chested outdoors entrepreneur who lives in a log cabin near Yellowstone National Park, he has spent much of his life writing for prominent outdoors magazines, delivering lectures across the country and starring in cable TV shows about big-game hunting in the West.
Zumbo's fame, however, has turned to black-bordered infamy within America's gun culture -- and his multimedia success has come undone. It all happened in the past week, after he publicly criticized the use of military-style assault rifles by hunters, especially those gunning for prairie dogs.
"Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity," Zumbo wrote in his blog on the Outdoor Life Web site. The Feb. 16 posting has since been taken down. "As hunters, we don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them. . . . I'll go so far as to call them 'terrorist' rifles."
Squarely in the crosshairs
The reaction -- from tens of thousands of owners of assault rifles across the country, from media and manufacturers rooted in the gun business, and from the National Rifle Association -- has been swift, severe and unforgiving. Despite a profuse public apology and a vow to go hunting soon with an assault weapon, Zumbo's career appears to be over.
His top-rated weekly TV program on the Outdoor Channel, his longtime career with Outdoor Life magazine and his corporate ties to the biggest names in gunmaking, including Remington Arms Co., have been terminated or are on the ropes.
The NRA on Thursday pointed to the collapse of Zumbo's career as an example of what can happen to anyone, including a "fellow gun owner," who challenges the right of Americans to own or hunt with assault-style firearms.
From his home near Cody, Wyo., Zumbo declined repeated telephone requests for comment. He is a 40-year NRA member and has appeared with NRA officials in 70 cities, according to his Web site.
Shot across Congress' bow
In announcing that it was suspending its professional ties with Zumbo, the NRA -- a well-financed gun lobby that for decades has fought attempts to regulate assault weapons -- noted that the new Congress should pay careful attention to the outdoors writer's fate.
"Our folks fully understand that their rights are at stake," the NRA statement said. It warned that the "grassroots" passion that brought down Zumbo shows that millions of people would "resist with an immense singular political will any attempts to create a new ban on semi-automatic firearms."
Some outdoors writers drew a different lesson from Zumbo's horrible week.
"This shows the zealousness of gun owners to the point of actual foolishness," said Pat Wray, a freelance outdoors writer in Corvallis, Ore., and author of "A Chukar Hunter's Companion."
Wray said that what happened to Zumbo is a case study in how the NRA has trained members to attack their perceived enemies without mercy.
"For so many years, Zumbo has been a voice for these people -- for hunting and for guns -- and they just turned on him in an instant," Wray said. "He apologized all over himself, and it didn't do any good."
Circling the wagons
Zumbo's fall highlights a fundamental concern of the NRA and many champions of military-style firearms, according to people who follow the organization closely. They do not want American gun owners to make a distinction between assault weapons and traditional hunting guns such as shotguns and rifles. If they did, a rift could emerge between hunters, who tend to have the most money for political contributions to gun rights causes, and assault-weapon owners, who tend to have lots of passion but less cash.
The NRA appeared to be saying as much in its statement Thursday, when it emphasized that the Zumbo affair shows there is "no chance" that a "divide and conquer propaganda strategy" could ever succeed.
"Jim Zumbo Outdoors" was not broadcast as scheduled last week on the Outdoor Channel and will not air next week, said Mike Hiles, a spokesman for the channel. He said sponsors have requested that they be removed from the program. The show "will be in hiatus for an undetermined period of time," he said.
Zumbo's long career at Outdoor Life, which is owned by Time Inc., also came to a sudden end in the past week. Zumbo was hunting editor of the magazine, which is the nation's second-largest outdoors publication. He wrote his first story for Outdoor Life in 1962.
`Living in very delicate times'
The magazine's editor in chief, Todd W. Smith, said that Zumbo submitted his resignation after hearing of the large number of readers (about 6,000, at last count) who had sent e-mails demanding his dismissal. Smith dismissed as "conjecture" a question about whether Zumbo would have been fired had he not resigned.
"Jim is a good guy, and I feel bad about this unfortunate situation," Smith said. "We are living in very delicate times. For someone to call these firearms 'terrorist' rifles, that is a flash-point word. You are painting a bunch of enthusiasts with the word. They don't like being called terrorists."
When he wrote his now-notorious blog entry, Zumbo was on a coyote hunt in Wyoming sponsored by Remington, a detail he noted in the entry.
That mention -- as it bounced around in recent days among a number of assault-weapon Web sites -- triggered a call for a boycott of Remington products.
That prompted Remington to issue a news release, saying that it has "severed all sponsorship ties with Mr. Zumbo effective immediately."
Remington chief executive Tommy Millner issued a personal appeal to gun owners who might be thinking about boycotting the company's products: "Rest assured that Remington not only does not support [Zumbo's] view, we totally disagree," Millner said. "I have no explanation for his perspective. I proudly own AR's and support everyone's right to do so!"
Zumbo, in his public apology, said that when he wrote the blog entry that criticized assault rifles, he was at the end of a long day's hunt.
"I was tired and exhausted," he wrote, "and I should have gone to bed early."
Apparently, the NRA has trained us to attack without mercy, lol.
WP: Gun remark kills outdoorsman's career
Criticism of hunters who use assault rifles puts writer's career in jeopardy
By Blaine Harden
The Washington Post
Updated: 12:22 a.m. ET Feb 24, 2007
SEATTLE - Modern hunters rarely become more famous than Jim Zumbo. A mustachioed, barrel-chested outdoors entrepreneur who lives in a log cabin near Yellowstone National Park, he has spent much of his life writing for prominent outdoors magazines, delivering lectures across the country and starring in cable TV shows about big-game hunting in the West.
Zumbo's fame, however, has turned to black-bordered infamy within America's gun culture -- and his multimedia success has come undone. It all happened in the past week, after he publicly criticized the use of military-style assault rifles by hunters, especially those gunning for prairie dogs.
"Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity," Zumbo wrote in his blog on the Outdoor Life Web site. The Feb. 16 posting has since been taken down. "As hunters, we don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them. . . . I'll go so far as to call them 'terrorist' rifles."
Squarely in the crosshairs
The reaction -- from tens of thousands of owners of assault rifles across the country, from media and manufacturers rooted in the gun business, and from the National Rifle Association -- has been swift, severe and unforgiving. Despite a profuse public apology and a vow to go hunting soon with an assault weapon, Zumbo's career appears to be over.
His top-rated weekly TV program on the Outdoor Channel, his longtime career with Outdoor Life magazine and his corporate ties to the biggest names in gunmaking, including Remington Arms Co., have been terminated or are on the ropes.
The NRA on Thursday pointed to the collapse of Zumbo's career as an example of what can happen to anyone, including a "fellow gun owner," who challenges the right of Americans to own or hunt with assault-style firearms.
From his home near Cody, Wyo., Zumbo declined repeated telephone requests for comment. He is a 40-year NRA member and has appeared with NRA officials in 70 cities, according to his Web site.
Shot across Congress' bow
In announcing that it was suspending its professional ties with Zumbo, the NRA -- a well-financed gun lobby that for decades has fought attempts to regulate assault weapons -- noted that the new Congress should pay careful attention to the outdoors writer's fate.
"Our folks fully understand that their rights are at stake," the NRA statement said. It warned that the "grassroots" passion that brought down Zumbo shows that millions of people would "resist with an immense singular political will any attempts to create a new ban on semi-automatic firearms."
Some outdoors writers drew a different lesson from Zumbo's horrible week.
"This shows the zealousness of gun owners to the point of actual foolishness," said Pat Wray, a freelance outdoors writer in Corvallis, Ore., and author of "A Chukar Hunter's Companion."
Wray said that what happened to Zumbo is a case study in how the NRA has trained members to attack their perceived enemies without mercy.
"For so many years, Zumbo has been a voice for these people -- for hunting and for guns -- and they just turned on him in an instant," Wray said. "He apologized all over himself, and it didn't do any good."
Circling the wagons
Zumbo's fall highlights a fundamental concern of the NRA and many champions of military-style firearms, according to people who follow the organization closely. They do not want American gun owners to make a distinction between assault weapons and traditional hunting guns such as shotguns and rifles. If they did, a rift could emerge between hunters, who tend to have the most money for political contributions to gun rights causes, and assault-weapon owners, who tend to have lots of passion but less cash.
The NRA appeared to be saying as much in its statement Thursday, when it emphasized that the Zumbo affair shows there is "no chance" that a "divide and conquer propaganda strategy" could ever succeed.
"Jim Zumbo Outdoors" was not broadcast as scheduled last week on the Outdoor Channel and will not air next week, said Mike Hiles, a spokesman for the channel. He said sponsors have requested that they be removed from the program. The show "will be in hiatus for an undetermined period of time," he said.
Zumbo's long career at Outdoor Life, which is owned by Time Inc., also came to a sudden end in the past week. Zumbo was hunting editor of the magazine, which is the nation's second-largest outdoors publication. He wrote his first story for Outdoor Life in 1962.
`Living in very delicate times'
The magazine's editor in chief, Todd W. Smith, said that Zumbo submitted his resignation after hearing of the large number of readers (about 6,000, at last count) who had sent e-mails demanding his dismissal. Smith dismissed as "conjecture" a question about whether Zumbo would have been fired had he not resigned.
"Jim is a good guy, and I feel bad about this unfortunate situation," Smith said. "We are living in very delicate times. For someone to call these firearms 'terrorist' rifles, that is a flash-point word. You are painting a bunch of enthusiasts with the word. They don't like being called terrorists."
When he wrote his now-notorious blog entry, Zumbo was on a coyote hunt in Wyoming sponsored by Remington, a detail he noted in the entry.
That mention -- as it bounced around in recent days among a number of assault-weapon Web sites -- triggered a call for a boycott of Remington products.
That prompted Remington to issue a news release, saying that it has "severed all sponsorship ties with Mr. Zumbo effective immediately."
Remington chief executive Tommy Millner issued a personal appeal to gun owners who might be thinking about boycotting the company's products: "Rest assured that Remington not only does not support [Zumbo's] view, we totally disagree," Millner said. "I have no explanation for his perspective. I proudly own AR's and support everyone's right to do so!"
Zumbo, in his public apology, said that when he wrote the blog entry that criticized assault rifles, he was at the end of a long day's hunt.
"I was tired and exhausted," he wrote, "and I should have gone to bed early."
0
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Another stupid reporter.
He uses the term "assault" ten ( 10 ) times in the article; and we all know that AR's are "semi-automatic" rifles.
On the other hand, he only used "terrorist" a couple of times.
SHEEESH.[xx(][xx(]0 -
quote:Originally posted by awinds
Another stupid reporter.
He uses the term "assault" ten ( 10 ) times in the article; and we all know that AR's are "semi-automatic" rifles.
On the other hand, he only used "terrorist" a couple of times.
SHEEESH.[xx(][xx(]
There is a positive side to the story though!
Just maybe it will show the Anti crowd that the gun owners of this country can stand up and unite if our rights are threatened.0 -
Clearly this author doesn't get it either ...
... the 2nd Amendment is not about hunting [B)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by kimberkid
Clearly this author doesn't get it either ...
... the 2nd Amendment is not about hunting [B)]
I noticed that, too. Just WTH is the problem with these morons?0 -
quote:This shows the zealousness of gun owners to the point of actual foolishness," said Pat Wray, a freelance outdoors writer in Corvallis, Ore., and author of "A Chukar Hunter's Companion."
This one is a clown too and needs to go the way of the Zumbo.
I don't need anybody like that Zumbo fighting for any of my gun rights. Don't need no Fudds.0 -
quote:Originally posted by MT357
quote:This shows the zealousness of gun owners to the point of actual foolishness," said Pat Wray, a freelance outdoors writer in Corvallis, Ore., and author of "A Chukar Hunter's Companion."
This one is a clown too and needs to go the way of the Zumbo.
I don't need anybody like that Zumbo fighting for any of my gun rights. Don't need no Fudds.
Be vewwy vewwy quiet. We're hunting wabbits. Our Second Amendment wights awwow us to do so. Hehhehehehehehehhehehe.0 -
Maybe it's time all of us drop Blaine Hardin a note at the Washington Post and give him a lesson on "Assault Rifles" and the 2 Amendment.
I'm looking for a email address now. If we continue our education of the stupid, Congress will surely start listening.
Here is a link to email Blaine Hardin at the Washington Post:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/blaine+harden/0 -
It is refreshing to know that so many came out in masses to speak aginst his comments. Let this be a message to the gun grabbers. 0 -
We need to use the same tactics now and let our elected offical know how we feel. The Dem are worried about 2008 and if we let them know how we feel with the auto rifle ban they may back off. They want the 2008 election and do want to mess with gun owners. Let your emails,phone calls and letters to your elected officials fly, now is the time not sit on our butts[:D][^] 0 -
This is the letter I wrote to Blaine Hardin at the Washington Post. I beleive if we keep informing these journalist of our rights then the word would make it to our politicians in Washington.
This is the only board I visit. I know some of you visit other pro gun boards, and maybe you could pass this thread around. Thanks.
Mr. Hardin
I appreciate your article on Jim Zumbo, however I don't appreciate your using the term "Assault Rifle". These rifles don't assault anyone. They are plain and simple semi-automatic rifles. These rifles are only assault rifles when you assault someone with them. I use one of my rifle for target shooting. I call it my target rifle. I use another for hunting, and I refer to it as my hunting rifle. My hunting rifle is also used to protect me and my family, so I guess you can call my hunting rifle my defense rifle as well. Since I would never dream of assaulting someone with it, I would never refer to it as a "assault rifle" If you would like to categorize my rifles then you can call them semi-automatic rifles or firearms.
Secondly, It seems that all who write about firearms seem to beleive that the 2nd Amendment is about hunting and sports. The 2nd Amendment is really about the individuals right to own firearms. This amendment was added by our fore fathers to insure that we, as American citizens have the right to defend ourselves against enemies both foriegn and domestic, and to protect us from a tyrannical goverment. That way We Americans can enjoy the
freedoms that they desired of a new nation.
Thank you.0 -
quote:Originally posted by fshfndr
We need to use the same tactics now and let our elected offical know how we feel. The Dem are worried about 2008 and if we let them know how we feel with the auto rifle ban they may back off. They want the 2008 election and do want to mess with gun owners. Let your emails,phone calls and letters to your elected officials fly, now is the time not sit on our butts[:D][^]
Very, very good point. Until 2008 most of the Democrats will want to win the presidential election more than anything else. That means that most of them will refrain from offending any large group, such as gun owners. Maybe that is why there were no co-sponsers or Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's new assault weapons ban.
BTW, the article (written by a non-gun person) shows to me that even those gun owners who are ready to pull the plug on the NRA, should wait until we have something else as large, powerful and as well known as the NRA.
Whether you want to argue that that the NRA is good for gun owners or not, such an article as above makes it obvious that the anti-gun media, the general public and by extension, legislators believe it does. It appears that the NRA is so powerful that it can do some good for gun owners, if only by accident. We need to keep the NRA alive and in place until either it changes for the better or something as big and powerful is able to just naturally push the NRA off center stage.
BTW, my daughter, grandson and I are long-time NRA members and will probably remain so. Plus I am a dues paying member of GOA and SAF. IOW, I am not just out to bash the NRA but I am starting to see that the NRA will support/fail to support gun legislation that I do not agree with.0 -
quote:the NRA -- a well-financed gun lobby that for decades has fought attempts to regulate assault weaponsahem... over regulate.
so "the NRA has trained members to attack their perceived enemies without mercy", eh? wrong. WE are the NRA. the NRA does what WE gun owners want, not the other way around.
in addition to the foolish misrepresentations of the media noted above, the media also always refuses to recognize that fact. it's always the NRA that does everything, as if to ignore the fact that they reflect the opinion of millions of gun owners around the country. to admit that would undermine their lies they feed the public, gunowners included. that's propaganda, folks. they have an agenda.
thanks for the info, s3AD, sent a email also.0 -
quote:Originally posted by git_r_done
Circling the wagons
Zumbo's fall highlights a fundamental concern of the NRA and many champions of military-style firearms, according to people who follow the organization closely. They do not want American gun owners to make a distinction between assault weapons and traditional hunting guns such as shotguns and rifles. If they did, a rift could emerge between hunters, who tend to have the most money for political contributions to gun rights causes, and assault-weapon owners, who tend to have lots of passion but less cash.
Thankfully, Human Souls are the True Currency0 -
..THE TRUE JIM ZUMBO, has exposed himself in an unguarded moment when he being tired and exhausted stated his core beliefs. I'm just PISSED that he got to -PRETEND- to be a friend to -ALL- gun owners for 40 YEARS !!!! That Sorry S.O.B.
He is most certainly an immodest close friend and personal bed partner of the American communist Party. Traitor !!!!
He ain't worth SPIT !!!
THERE IS NO WAY HE IS ALLOWED BACK INTO THE GUN WORLD !!!
HE NEVER DID NOTHING POSITIVE FOR "GUN OWNERS" IN 40 YEARS ????
40 YEARS !!!
40 YEARS !!! 40 YEARS !!! 40 YEARS !!! 40 YEARS !!!
GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE JIM ZUMBO !!!0 -
Funny, I didn't get invited to that particular NRA Training Camp.
What Blaine Harden doesn't understand was that what happened to Jim Zumbo was a completely spontaneous outpouring of justifiable anger.
Each of us who wrote to Outdoor Life (Remington, Gerber et al) did so without the NRA's urging. As a matter of fact, the NRA was strangely silent on the topic for days.
Blaine Harden is an idiot.0 -
Here is my email to Mr. Harden on his article.
___________________________________________________
Sir,
It seems as if you missed the whole point of the backlash against Mr. Zumbo.
The crux of the matter was his total lack of understanding of Amendment II of the US Constitution. His two subsequent "apologies" also pointed directly toward that lack of understanding.
The absolute right to own firearms does not revolve around, or have any basis in, hunting. This from a lifelong hunter, shooter, sportsman and command level Peace Officer. It is clearly the right of the people to be armed in defense of property, self and family and to keep in check an out of control government, period. Military style arms, among others, are absolutely the arms enumerated in the Second Amendment.
Everyone acknowledged Mr. Zumbo's right to speak out on his views, but along with ones views and the speech one uses, comes accountability. He received a firm lesson in that accountability.
It seems as if you failed to point out the fact of his willful ignorance, or his ignoring, of the Constitution. I am not sure if your omission was deliberate, or not, but it was in fact, the crux of the controversy, period.
Sadly, I have come to expect nothing more from the media than what you served up.
One last note, please educate yourself on what an "assault weapon" is, before you go blathering on about something you are clearly ignorant about.
Sincerely,
Mr. Jeff XXXX
Arizona resident and Peace Officer0 -
quote:"This shows the zealousness of gun owners to the point of actual foolishness," said Pat Wray, a freelance outdoors writer in Corvallis, Ore., and author of "A Chukar Hunter's Companion."
Wray said that what happened to Zumbo is a case study in how the NRA has trained members to attack their perceived enemies without mercy.
"For so many years, Zumbo has been a voice for these people -- for hunting and for guns -- and they just turned on him in an instant," Wray said. "He apologized all over himself, and it didn't do any good."
A note of clarification to PAT WRAY might be in order, too, eh?
patwray@comcast.net
This is what he's getting from me:
Mr. Wray:
I read a quote from you in the Washington Post with regard to the Jim Zumbo blog. You indicated that the grassroots response to Mr. Zumbo's slander of legal gun owners and indeed, legal guns was nothing more than zealousness that had gone to foolishness, or words to that effect. I'm not sure what cave you've been hiding in for the past several decades, but there is a war going on. I'm not talking muslims vs. westerners either. I'm talking left-wing butchers of the Constitution and enslavers of the people vs. gun owners of every stripe. Zealous? You bet. We MUST be zealous or this war will be lost. If, GOD FORBID, that should happen, with what will you slay your upland birds?
As a life member of the NRA, I also resent your insinuation (no, EXPLICIT STATEMENT) that the organization "trains" its members to "attack." You see attack, I see defend. Our constitutional right must be defended from all threats--even those that lurk in hunting attire and babble among the pages of outdoor journals. By the way, my "training" comes not from an organization; rather it comes from years of reading and witnessing the vicious lies and attacks on my rights and the rights of my countrymen with regard to unhindered gun ownership and use.
Seeing what happened to Mr. Zumbo as a result of his careless statements, you might want to reconsider some of the slips of your own tongue. Surely not many of my fellow gun owners appreciate being called foolish.
Can't call me your fan because I never heard of you before this article--and I'm sure I won't be reading your stuff in the future,
[ramtinxxl]
Baton Rouge, LA0 -
Bravo guys! Great letters. 0 -
38 Pistols don't do the job either.
Zumbo is about as popular to me as the two people from Malubu California that lived with Bears during summer months in Alaska and wrote many books saying all you had to do is shoot a 38 in the air and they would run like hell.
Well it didn't happen the Bear ate their major leg bones the tiba and fiba, I am not going to tell you how big this Bear was because none of these size stories stories are believeable, the Alaskan fish and game who killed this bear is supposed to put it in the Achorage airport when the taxidermy is finished.0 -
quote: If they did, a rift could emerge between hunters, who tend to have the most money for political contributions to gun rights causes, and assault-weapon owners, who tend to have lots of passion but less cash.
So wait a second. I own both black and walnut and blue rifles? Am I rich or poor? I'm so confused.[B)]
Edit: Assualt rifle term doesn't bother me much. I know by our constitution if it goes BANG, I should be able to own it. Call them whatever you like.0
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