My Stuff
  •   Blog Index
  •   Blog History
  •   Today's Posts
  •   Greg on Politics
  •   Search Term Q&A
  •   QotDs
  •   Popular Articles
  •   Most Active
  •   Recent Comments
  •   Articles With Images
  •   Newbie Competition
  •   Gun Control Questionnaire
  •   Florida Gun Resources
  •   [ contact ]
  • Bloggers I've Met
  •   Gun Nuts Media
  •   MArooned
  •   McThag
  •   Robb "No Pants" Allen
  •   Say Uncle
  •   The Big Guy
  • Friends
  •   Another Manic Monday
  •   Cato Institute
  •   My Tampa Life
  •   Sticks of Fire
  •   Tampa BLAB
  •   Tampa Bay Fish
  •   The Line is Here
  •   WMITC
  • Blogs
  •   2A Musings
  •   Advanced Armament Corp
  •   Airborne Combat Engineer
  •   Alphecca
  •   Anarchangel
  •   Another Gun Blog
  •   Argghhh!!!
  •   Arizona Rifleman
  •   Armed Canadian
  •   Atomic Nerds
  •   Bayou Renaissance Man
  •   Billlls Idle Mind
  •   Black Man With A Gun
  •   Blunt Object
  •   Bore Patch
  •   Cam Edwards
  •   Captain of a Crew of One
  •   Cat O. Nine Tales
  •   Cogito Ergo Geek
  •   Colt CCO
  •   DiveMedic
  •   Firearms and Freedom
  •   From the Barrel of a Gun
  •   GeekWithA.45
  •   Geeks With Guns
  •   Great Blue Whale
  •   Gun Loving John
  •   Gun Pundit
  •   Gun Trust Lawyer
  •   GunBloggers
  •   Gunpowder Treason
  •   Guns, Holsters and Gear
  •   Hell in a Handbasket
  •   Home on the Range
  •   I don't sleep, I dream
  •   John Lott
  •   Jon H. Gutmacher
  •   Justin Buist
  •   Keep and Bear Arms
  •   Keyboard and a .45
  •   LawDog Files
  •   Liberty Girl
  •   Liberty News
  •   Liberty Zone
  •   Mad Rocket Scientist
  •   Michael Bane
  •   Michael's Soapbox
  •   Move Left?
  •   Mr. Completely
  •   NRA Blog
  •   New Jovian Thunderbolt
  •   Ninth Stage
  •   No Looking Backwards
  •   Of Arms & the Law
  •   Pretty Pistolera
  •   Right to Bear Arms
  •   Rustmeister's Alehouse
  •   Sentinel
  •   Shooting the Messenger
  •   Smallest Minority
  •   Snowflakes In Hell
  •   Somewhat Intelligent
  •   Steve's Blog
  •   TFS Magnum
  •   Tell Me Why?
  •   The Bitch Girls
  •   The Breda Fallacy
  •   The Countertop Chronicles
  •   The Firearm Blog
  •   The Gun Blogs
  •   The Liberty Sphere
  •   The Mad Hatter
  •   The Real Gun Guys
  •   The Shootist
  •   The Whited Sepulchre
  •   Trigger Finger
  •   View From NC Idaho
  •   View From The Porch
  •   Volokh Conspiracy
  •   Wasted Electrons
  • 2A/Firearm Info
  •   Florida Firearms Law
  •   Gun Facts
  •   Gun Law News
  •   Gun Laws
  •   GunBlast
  •   GunCite
  •   Handgun Law
  •   NRA News
  •   USA Carry
  •   Wiki Entry

  • Previous Entries
      2015
        Sep
      2012
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
      2011
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2010
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2009
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2008
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2007
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2006
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
      2005
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Feb
        Jan
      2004
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
        Aug
        Jul
        Jun
        May
        Apr
        Mar
        Feb
        Jan
      2003
        Dec
        Nov
        Oct
        Sep
         

    Greg and Beth

    the political and personal musings of two
    mountaineers living in west-central Florida
     
    Letter to Tampa Bay's 10 Comment
    Gregory Morris, 7/13/07 11:07:20 pm
    While I don't normally do this sort of thing, I thought I might write a letter to the press following a previously mentioned anti-gun biased article. I say I don't normally do this because they don't listen anyway. But for some reason this article got under my skin more than usual.

    Some of what I said can probably be nitpicked (the SKS remained in service elsewhere a bit longer; in some states adding a removable magazine makes it an "assault weapon"; etc.) but I was trying to be succinct.

    Anyway, here's my letter:

    The story "Assault rifles: Dangerous , deadly and on our streets" posted at: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx
    ?s=rss&storyid=58284
    contains information that is not wholly factual, and is in fact quite misleading.

    This title has little to do with the actual story. From what I can ascertain, the actual news was that two convicted felons were arrested for dealing drugs, while illegally in possession of an illegally modified rifle. Had Tammie Fields spend a few moments researching the topic, instead of focusing her attempts on making the story sound sensational, she would have come to the realization that the arrest of a few drug dealers has little to do with a bank robbery shoot-out. In addition, it is not not correct to describe a rifle as dangerous and deadly. It is common sense that a firearm only becomes dangerous and/or deadly in the hands of someone who is irresponsible or a criminal.

    The information that is factually inaccurate is referencing the SKS rifle as a "high powered assault rifle". In fact, the 7.62x39 cartridge used in the SKS is considered an intermediate cartridge, relative to high powered military cartridges such as the common .30-06 cartridge. Also, it is important to note that the SKS does not fall under either the industry or legal definition of "assault rifle". The term "assault rifle", in the common use refers to a single-soldier-portable infantry rifle, capable of both semi- and automatic fire. Once again, a few minutes of research would have uncovered this information.

    Some other pertinent background information:
    -While the SKS is a "military rifle", is in fact categorized (under most circumstances) as a "Curio/Relic" by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This is due to the fact that the SKS has been out of production and service for around 50 years. It was adopted for use by the Soviet Army in 1949, and was replaced around 1955 by the famous Kalashnikov assault rifle.
    -Felons may not legally possess a firearm. Clearly felons don't follow the law, but an informed reporter would have asked about weapons charges against the drug dealers.
    -It is illegal, in many instances, to modify a rifle by cutting off the stock. The story should have been about the arrest of these criminals, instead of a story about scary guns. Since they clearly broke other laws, this story would have been more complete if that had been mentioned.

    Although Tammie Fields makes it somewhat clear that she is merely quoting the officers interviewed, follow-up research is standard practice in any kind of journalism.

    I am making an open-ended offer to give safe, hands-on instruction to any member of the media who needs a fact-based understanding of firearms. Good research is the key to good journalism. Reporting on a topic, especially a controversial one, without any background knowledge what-so-ever is dishonest, unprofessional, and unethical.

    Gregory Morris
    Oldsmar, FL

    [Comments are closed after a month.]

    < "Tampa Bay's 10 on the Tiahrt Amendment"
    "Tiahrt at Work" >


    Older entries
    Blog RSS - Blog Comments RSS

    © 2008 Gregory Morris
    Notice: There are some areas of this website where everyone is permitted to post information. (In this case, information is defined as anything you can paste/type into an html form.) Do not post anything that cannot be legally put in the public domain. I have the absolute power to remove/modify/edit anything that is posted on this site. All original content on this website is owned solely by me, and cannot be redistributed without prior written consent. All information on this website is provided with absolutely no warranty. [Privacy Policy]
    Click Here for information about a
    FREE introduction to firearms
    safety and shooting.

    Answers to the
    Gun Control Questionnaire:
    Since this questionnaire began:
  • 'A' was selected 11031 times.
  • 'B' was selected 15360 times.
  • 'C' was selected 2742 times.
  • 'D' was selected 101299 times.


  • Search:



    Join The NRA!


    Second Amendment Foundation


    Ammo deals at Sportsman's Guide


    blab135x75.gif



    [402253]