Before Dick Metcalf betrayed gun owners “starting a dialogue” about gun control with the readers of Guns & Ammo, the New York Time didn’t give a crap about him. It’s the same reason every week that old gray bitch (she ain’t no lady) publishes a list of gun crimes, never self-defense, never positive stories about guns.
Well, look how things change. Joe Nocera writes in an article entitled, “When a Gun Advocate Dissents”:
It is perfectly understandable, then, that the gun world might be a little taken aback by Metcalf’s opinion piece in the December issue of Guns & Ammo calling for some modest gun regulation. “I firmly believe that all U.S. citizens have a right to keep and bear arms,” he wrote, “but I do not believe that they have a right to use them irresponsibly.” The article went on to call for mandatory training for gun owners. That’s all. Such limited regulation, he argued, did not constitute an infringement on anyone’s constitutional rights.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/09/opinion/when-a-gun-advocate-dissents.html?_r=0
Oh the Times loves their turncoats, before Metcalf would have been called a murderer, a fanatic, he would have been blame for what criminals do. But now? “Modest gun regulation,” never mind that we have 20,000 gun laws in the books.
When people like me read an article like that, it seems momentarily possible that gun advocates and gun control advocates might be able to find some common ground. Much in the way that many gun control activists have come to accept the legitimacy of the Second Amendment — something that hasn’t always been the case — here was a man on the other side of the divide saying that some sensible regulation didn’t necessarily lead down a “slippery slope” to confiscation. If we are ever to have a sane gun policy, we desperately need people from both camps to meet somewhere in the middle.
Oh, that is hilarious. The gun banners pretend to accept the 2nd Amendment (i.e. change their tactics) and we’re supposed to meet them in the middle by accepting more gun laws. Do pro-choicers meet pro-lifers in the middle by accepting, I don’t know, bans on partial-birth abortion, inspections of abortion clinics, punishing abortion doctors that don’t report statutory rape? Do gay activists meet us in the middle by accepting domestic partnerships? Did Obama meet us in the middle by delaying Obamacare for one year? Of course not.
There’s no “meeting in the middle,” people, there’s only winning and losing. That’s it.
As for “sensible regulation,” this is typical speak of Statists, people who believe every problem requires a government solution. “Sensible regulation” led to the Patriot Act, the TSA, banks being forced to lend loans to people that have no business owning homes. Before big government life was simpler, yes banks failed, yes sometimes there were great crisis, but there was accountability instead of bailouts.
Finally, according to a blog post Metcalf wrote, two major gun manufacturers told InterMedia Outdoors that they would pull all their advertising if something wasn’t done. That’s all it took. Within 24 hours, Metcalf was permanently banned from the company’s publications. And the longtime editor of Guns & Ammo, Jim Bequette, who was planning to retire at the end of the year, was pushed out as well.
That’s because gun manufacturers listen to the people, they saw the outcry. If you’re Budweiser and beer drinkers are angry, they listen. If gun owners are angry, gun makers listen or they end up paying the price like Smith & Wesson did when they were a British company and supported Clinton’s “smart gun” plans. Today Smith & Wesson is an American company, and they have learned that the power of the purse is greater than the power of any politician.
If you want to understand why so few gun owners are willing to stand up to the National Rifle Association, even though the majority disagree with the N.R.A.’s most extreme positions, here was a vivid example. Straying from the party line leads to vilification and condemnation that would give anybody pause.
If that was the case, gun owners would be quitting the NRA instead of increasing their rooster by one million. In fact, some are joining Gun Owners of America because they think the NRA is too liberal.
My guess is that Dick Metcalf always knew what he was in for — all the more reason writing his article took guts. In the aftermath, he was the only one who could still hold his head up high. On a blog called The Outdoor Wire, he wrote a lengthy response to his critics. He didn’t back down one iota. Describing himself as “disappointed” at the reaction to his article, he added, “If a respected editor can be forced to resign and a controversial writer’s voice be shut down by a one-sided social-media and Internet outcry, virtually overnight, simply because they dared to open a discussion or ask questions about a politically sensitive issue…then I fear for the future of our industry, and for our Cause.”
Courage? Not really, just a desire to be controversial for the sake of being controversial. Maybe Dick was bored and decided to do something that would get attention, perhaps he has enough money saved up to enjoy a comfortable retirement. His last comment shows why old media is dying and new media is thriving. These editors think themselves above their readers, they seem themselves as their guides, their stewards. They have a sense of entitlement, as if their jobs were guaranteed for life.
Maybe that works for Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue. The Devil can wear Prada because she’s great at her job, she understands her audience, women call her magazine “The Bible” because it tells them everything they need to know. Yet if tomorrow Vogue started telling women that fashion isn’t important, that they can be all frumpy and eat chocolate all day long, they would lose a huge chunk of their audience.
Guns & Ammo was The Bible for gun owners, so when Dick gave us gun control, we simply departed. Perhaps we shall return now that Dick is gone. If I’m wrong, then let Dick start a blog, let’s see how many gun owners want to read a blog that defends gun control. Good luck, Dick.
