Michigan Messenger Gets the Message Wrong

There is an old saying, “don’t shoot the messenger,” but the Michigan Messenger certainly shot off target with the headline for a recent story:

“Gun rights supporters pair weekend family picnic with weaponry“

While the story basically told of a weekend event organized by Michigan Open carry Inc, a non-profit group that helps educate people on how to legally and openly carry a firearm, the choice of words in the headline was dubious at best. “Weaponry.” Yes, firearms can be weapons, no doubt about it. But so can a knife, a baseball bat and hundreds of other objects. Clearly an editor liked the play on words.

The article further sends mixed messages including this passage:

“The day after Barack Obama was elected president in November, a local gun store, Hampel’s, flew an American flag upside down.”

What exactly does an event in November have to do with this past weekend’s picnic? Not a whole lot. Old news, time to move on. But the article also found a way of showing those opposed to firearms, in this case quoting Leo Gabier, a Korean War veteran and Traverse City resident. The author points out that Mr. Gabier showed up at the event with a sign saying “Ban Automatic Weapons.”

Nowhere in the article does it highlight that automatic weapons are difficult to legally own, even in Michigan. But by giving ammunition to individuals such as Gabier doesn’t educate readers who wouldn’t know that automatic weapons aren’t readily available. Of course it is possible the author of this piece, Eartha Jane Melzer is as clueless on the subject matter as the source she quoted.