Once Again Truth Doesn’t Matter to Media Matters for America
This week liberal watchdog Media Matters for America wasted time and space to defend Rachel Maddow for attacking the NRA. The blog post notes:
“On Friday’s edition of her MSNBC program Rachel Maddow highlighted a variety of right-wing extremist activities on gun related issues, including National Rifle Association (NRA) executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre’s increasingly infamous suggestion that because President Obama hasn’t pursued gun control he must be secretly plotting to ‘erase the Second Amendment.’ Maddow also highlighted Fox News mainstreaming right-wing blogger Mike Vanderboegh, who gained notoriety last year for advocating throwing bricks through the windows of Democratic offices in response to the health care reform bill.”
Why was this post even necessary? It just repeats the sentiments that Media Matters had made, and yet Maddow is as guilty. She never mentions that President Obama had told Sarah Brady he was working on gun control, but “under the radar.”
This also never notes the M1 rifles that were blocked from importation a year ago. It doesn’t mention that the EPA had taken proposals to ban lead ammunition. It doesn’t mention that the White House had a summit on what it called “reasonable gun control.”
This is just more Obama loving cronyism that tries to defect the truth from the issues.
Sponsor Special: Non-firing Display M1 Carbine
Have a uniform display that needs a firearm? A good alternative to using a function gun is to have outfit it with a dummy, and our friends at International Military Antiques have plenty to chose from. If you are doing an American World War II officer display for Europe, USMC in the Pacific or even paratrooper, the M1 Carbine is a good option as this small version of the M1 was popular in both Europe and the Pacific. It was also used in Korea – but soldiers felt it lacked the necessary stopping power.
With original guns rising in price, and harder to find a dummy gun is a good alternative to the real deal for a uniform display or just mounting on the wall. Either way, it is a nifty little gun and this display looks and feels the part. Read more
National Association for Gun Rights: Nearly 1 Million American Rifles Banned By A Stroke Of Barack Obama’s Pen
From the National Association for Gun Rights:
In a move unprecedented in American history, the Obama Administration quietly banned the re-importation of nearly one million American made M1 Garand and Carbine rifles.
The M1 Garand, developed in the late 1930’s, carried the United States through World War II seeing action in every major battle. General Patton at the time called the M1 Garand “the greatest battle implement ever devised.”
The rifle is largely credited with giving American soldiers the advantage and securing victory for the allies.
During the Korean War, nearly one million of these rifles were brought to South Korea and left with the South Korean government afterward. Now, South Korea wants to give American gun collectors the chance to get their hands on this unique piece of history. Read more
NRA Show Recap: One More Look at the NRA Show
The Official NRA Sponsored NASCAR!
It was a great show in Pittsburgh this year. Here is a last look at the sights of the National Rifle Association Convention Exhibit Halls from Pittsburgh. We can’t wait until next year!
NRA Show Recap: Vintage Military Rifles
John Browning Display at NRA Convention
From John Browning’s machine guns to the British Enfield, the exhibit halls of the National Rifle Association Convention featured no shortage of eye candy for the militaria collector. In addition to “vintage” and “surplus” firearms, there were also modern “recreations” available, including those in semi-automatic. Here is a peek at the military firearms at the NRA Convention.
Time Says Obama Silence Not Pleasing
Would most gun owners agree with a recent Time magazine headline? It says: “Why Obama’s Silence on Gun Control Pleases No One.” The article notes that the Brady Campaign gave the president an F on gun control last summer, and then notes that the National Rifle Association won’t give him a nod. The article offers this thought:
“If Obama has disappointed both sides so far, the tragedy in Tucson provides a possible pivot point. Senior White House aides have said the President will address the gun issue sometime soon, though they’ve declined to offer specifics on the timing and format.”
That passage explains why the NRA won’t give him the nod. The NRA, and other gun groups, continue to wait for the shoe to fall. As Senator Obama he was anti-gun, from an anti-gun city in and anti-gun state. That says enough. What is also missing is that the Brady Campaign praised Obama and the State Department last fall when efforts to import M1 rifles from South Korea were halted.
The article goes on to suggest that many members of the NRA do support background checks and common sense laws, which is true. But for the article to suggest that the silence pleases no one is an outright lie. We think many gun owners would prefer Obama’s deafening silence to continue.
Happy New Year from FirearmsTruth
It is hard to believe that another year has passed, but here we are and it is 2011. We take this time to thank our readers, and to let everyone know that we’re digging in for a long fight.
While there has been a political shift in Washington, the anti-gun zealots remain loud as ever, and the media continues its agenda of misinformation. Looking back at the top “gun related” stories of 2010, we are reminded that it wasn’t the political change that is most noteworthy, or even the SCOTUS ruling in McDonald vs. City of Chicago.
It was the continued beating of the drum from the mainstream media on how American firearms are the cause of so much grief and violence in Mexico. Of course numbers that were debunked in 2009 were repeated again and again in 2010.
The stories that were missing in the MSM were those where guns helped saved lives by protecting those from criminal invasion of their homes or assaults on the street. And of course other than a handful of stories, little was noted about the efforts to bring home the M1 rifles from South Korea.
Finally, we must watch – and we will work to expose, track and report on – the back door efforts to ban guns. We will watch for efforts to block the importation of firearms, efforts by the UN to stop the “gun trade” and efforts by the EPA and other groups to “ban” certain materials (lead bullets come to mind). In other words, we’re not going anywhere.
We’ll be here through 2011 and beyond.
GOP Take House, But Second Amendment Battle is Far From Over
We’re happy to see that the Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives as the Grand Old Party as it is known tends to be friendlier to gun related issues. The people have spoke, and this wasn’t the result of some nefarious plot by the insidious gun lobby – which is how the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun organizations are painted in the mainstream media – to take control of the country. This was the will of the people, which includes hunters, shooters, collectors and just every day citizens that believe in the Second Amendment.
But the writing is on the wall, and we’re not out of the woods yet. Nor is it the time however to let down our guard. The Senate will still include a rogue’s gallery of anti-gun zealots including two Republicans: Senator-Elect Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), a co-sponsor in the U.S. House of Representatives of legislation to close the so-called gun show loophole, and Senator-Elect Dan Coast in Indiana had previously served in the U.S. Senate, voting for the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban.
Key anti-gun Democrats retained their seats in the U.S. Senate as well, and these include Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Barbara Boxer of California. New York was lso a special case as Kirsten Gillibrand was finally “elected” to the Senate (she had been appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s seat, which she will now hold for two more years). Both Schumer and Gillibrand have been foes to gun owners, while Boxer has also been a supporter of gun control. The NRA-endorsed Christine O’Donnell was also defeated by Democrat candidate Chris Coons in Delaware, while Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado), who was appointed to finish the term of former Senator Ken Salazar, was elected to a full term. He has co-sponsored gun show loophole legislation.
We happy that Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) was defeated in his re-election bid, as Feingold has had at what best can be described as a mixed record on gun related issues, including voting in favor of background checks at gun shows.
But now is the time to think to the future, but to be on guard today. Only this year the EPA attempted to ban lead ammunition, while the State Department stopped efforts to allow the importation of American M1 made rifles from South Korea. These are both back door gun bans, and while the same mainstream media that sees the NRA as a cabal of evildoers bent on turning America into a Wild West, turn a blind eye to these efforts. Instead the media tries to say that the Democrats and President Obama have done nothing to impose new restrictions.
Except for the attempt to ban lead ammo, the blocked importation of those M1 rifles and the appointment of two fiercely anti-gun rights Supreme Court Justices. So while this is a time to celebrate our wins with the House, we should be remain on guard.
Firing Back: Tale of Two Stories Proves Media Bias Against Guns
In the past month there were two notable stories that FirearmsTruth closely covered. Both stories involved American made guns, a foreign nation and calls to block the importation of these firearms. One made the mainstream media, stirred up all sorts of interest, resulted in coverage on the nightly news and even had political calls for action, while the other was barely a blip on the radar. Here is a look at back at these two stories and how it essentially proves the media bias against guns is all too alive and well.
The first story broke in August, and took weeks to gain any traction in the United States. This of course was about the efforts by South Korea to sell somewhere between 110,000 and 880,000 M1 Garand and M1 Carbine rifles. The story was ignored for weeks, and finally was reported on by The Washington Times and FoxNews. Kudos to both outlets for covering this story, but the question here is what took them so long?
One would think this story would garner more interest. The rifles were American made, desirable to collectors and valuable, but the media mostly ignored all facets of the story. There were no cries from The New York Times or The Washington Post that the State Department was stopping the re-importation of America goods, and no explanation even about why the guns couldn’t return home. The argument by the State Department of the guns being dangerous was cited, and the media had nothing more to say. In the end the story simply died.
Old soldiers might fade away, but rifles – even those of great value to collectors (both monetary and historically) it seem will only rust away.
And yet another story actually had the media buzzing – even if there was far less there that was actually “new.” This was the ABC News “breaking” piece that reported on a report from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which of course was based on data from the ATF. As we previously noted, this was little more than hearsay, as it was a report of a report based on third party data. Worse, this report used the parts of the data that helped the argument from Mayors Against Illegal Guns while ignoring other important facts – notably the number of guns actually sent to the United States for tracing.
However, this story was picked up by the media left and… well, left, and cited over and over as “proof” that American guns are a real problem. Never mind that the information was old, never mind that report was biased. It was “proof” for so many outlets, and for anti-gun zealots such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. When you have “proof” do you really need the truth?
These two stories did PROVE one thing. There is a continuing bias against guns by the mainstream media, both in how news is reported and on what is not reported.
Gun Collecting: What the Ban on the Importation of M1 Rifles From South Korea Means to Collectors
The history of the M1 rifle is well documented, so there is no need to retell the gun’s famous history. The truth is that it has become a highly sought after collectible. Over the past decade the prices of the M1 has increased at a pace greater than almost any other military firearm. Read more
