Regular readers are familiar with the concept of "Authorized Journalists"—professionals who work for "mainstream media" and are considered (sometimes by government and generally by themselves) to be the exclusive authoritative and credible purveyors of information. Think "Only Ones" with a press pass. These readers are also familiar with the many failings we've demonstrated where establishment reporters bring personal bias, along with "sins of omission and commission" into supposedly straight news stories. And then there are glaring errors where the only explanations seem the writers do not know (or fact-check) their subject matter, or they know damn well but have an agenda to promote.
My experience as a news consumer is that this is pervasive, and not just limited to guns. But since guns are what we're here to talk about, let's dig up once again the lie about "assault weapons" that was calculated with deceiving intent, and has been dutifully parroted by the "Authorized Journalists" ever since. From the Violence Policy Center:
The weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.
That's clear, right? They're not only willing, they're depending on lies to pass rights-restricting edicts.
And the media play right along as willing (ignorant?) dupes. From Reason Magazine:
Press coverage of the "assault weapon" controversy suggests that most journalists know very little about guns and are not interested in learning.
Come we now to a weekend shooting in Baltimore. Let us see how various "Authorized Journalists" describe the gun used in the killings.
Baltimore police said a man opened fire with an Uzi submachine gun during a fight at a birthday party Sunday that left two people wounded and a third beaten.
Shortly after police arrived, they found an Uzi submachine gun in a room where the party was held.
Another Associated Press report:
Guglielmi said Woodland pulled out a Tech-9 semiautomatic machine pistol and fired one shot, striking Johnson in the face.
Well, that's certainly very different. And everyone caught the subtle shift? We now learn it's a "semiautomatic"? But how many readers do you think know that "machine pistol" is by definition a firearm capable of full-auto or burst fire?
True, the reporters were initially depending on police sources to identify the gun in question, which says something about either the qualifications or the agenda of the Baltimore PD. But that's no excuse for mischaracterizing functional capabilities. And "corrections" show the play on words continuing:
Police initially thought the weapon was an Uzi submachine gun. The weapon was later identified as a TEC-9, a semiautomatic assault pistol.
Now how many readers do you think will understand the difference, or realize that adding "assault" to the description falls right in line with the intent of the deceivers?
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I could'a been a contender
That's what some of the crew from the hijacked Maersk Alabama say about their ordeal--they were trained to arms but not allowed to have them.
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Not without a notice
Don't forget--tomorrow is my interview with "Not Without a Fight" producer Max Lemus, where we'll take questions from you.
Comments
When an autopsy is done it is very difficult to determine whether the murder weapon was automatic or semiautomatic.
Words mean something. Most of us can remember a Supreme Court Justice in the 60's saying "I can't define obcenity, but I know it when I see it." Unfortunately, lack of a definition makes it very difficult if not impossible for legislators to write good laws, for the press to report on them, and for the rest of us to follow them. This applies as well to firearms law in general and to attempts to ban certain weapons in particular. How the heck is anyone supposed to decide if they're for or against a ban on "semi-automatic military-style assault weapons" if the definition constantly shifts from one news story or press release to the next? Was Forida governor Lawton Chiles' folding stock Ruger Mini-14 an assault weapon, or as he described it "just a li'l squirrel rifle"? Is the Ruger 10-22 an assault weapon as described by New Jersey? Is there any gun that they will guarantee to never call an assault weapon?
Thanks. Good article and very helpful. Most reporters can't tell an automatic weapon from their left butt cheek, so you need to keep an eye on them, especially they have two agendas:
1. They have an interest in selling papers, and that means sensationalism, and
2. They're liberal as all heck and would love to have all guns banned (except for the ones their security carries).
Technically, all guns are "assault weapons". They can all be used to commit assault. A true assault weapon is a select fire arm. But like the VPC says, they look like a machine gun so it must be so. At one time, they talked about banning guns with military origins. The problem is that almost every gun made had it's origins in the military. Would you call a 1873 Colt Peacemaker a assault weapon. That's the direction some of the worst want to go. It would cover almost every shotgun ever made. You can find shotguns of almost every manufacturer in miltary sevice. I carried a Ithica 37 in the Marines. We had all the major brands. Sometimes we got Winchesters, other times we got Remingtons. It was mostly by what was next in the rack and where you were in line. If the anti's had there way, we would all be using single shot shotguns and 22s.
By what authority or rational thinking do your neighbors determine what tools you use or where? Do you perform a survey to learn your neighbor's opinion and preference before you buy a lawnmower or a set of screwdrivers?
Well, why not? If mob rule should determine what you buy or do, why not make that apply to everything? Oh wait... politicians everywhere are doing their best to accomplish exactly that. And, eventually, they won't even pretend to care what YOU think of any of it.
A gun, of ANY KIND, is simply another tool. What you buy, and what you do with it is strictly your own business unless you harm others. And that goes for the screwdrivers just as much as the guns.
As David says so often: (paraphrased) Anyone who can't be trusted with a gun [ANY gun], needs a keeper or a jail cell. Period.
It isn't about what KIND of gun they use, folks. It's the character of the person that causes the harm.
A bit of MD firearms-law trivia: MD actually has a list of "Assault Pistols", including the TEC-9, which are illegal to own here. In this case, they were quoting the Code of Maryland, not making the weapon sound scarier.
Here is why this shooter and others like him are prevalent in Baltimore. Go here and type in his name and look at his police record. Charges have been continually nol prossed meaning the prosecutor decided not to press charges.
19-year-old Raymond Woodland
casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiry-index.jsp
"Medical Examiner says:
When an autopsy is done it is very difficult to determine whether the murder weapon was automatic or semiautomatic."
So what, they just report it's automatic until they find out different?
You know what else is difficult to determine from an autopsy? The brand and model of the gun. So let's not pretend this unprofessional pablum is in any way derived from autopsy data.
Notwithstanding that both of the parties here may be less than exemplary, here's a radical proposition that might reduce future confusion about exactly what kind of gun is/was used by an attacker:
When it becomes obvious the attacker is commencing a potentially lethal attack, the intended victim should carefully place two shots in the region of the attacker's wishbone, and follow with a single shot to the brain stem if the first two shots fail to stop the fight. (The first two shots can be delivered in under two seconds with a little training.) At this point, having ended the fight with minimal risk to noncombatants, the intended victim can simply remove the downed man's weapon herself, reading the manufacturer's stampings of model and chambering to witnesses...and if desired, she could even trigger a round or two into the dirt to verify if it is semi- or full-auto.
Less confusion all around.
DDS says "lack of a definition makes it very difficult if not impossible for legislators to write good laws".
It doesn't matter as it is impossible to write "good laws". The "good laws" do not need to be written down, and anything that needs to be defined and written won't ever be a "good law", but will only be another bad "law".
Actually lack of a definition makes it possible for prosecution of anybody on a whim. Lack of a definition allows very wide latitude for persecuting those you don't like or whose opinions with which you disagree. Lack of a definition multiplies the power of the state as they can make it up as they go, or forego any action as the definition changes to suit their purposes and dependent upon whose ox get gored.
And that my friend is no accident of oversight.
Did they ever find out what kind of gun was used? I'm betting it wasn't a scary looking gun at all. But a simple small handgun. The type that gangsta's like to carry since its small. They never want to carry a 10 pound 3 foot long rifle down the front of their pants its stupid. And only the left gun hating community would think someone would do that.
Sadly, most of the media puts a stigma on guns.
M.E.-Can you tell if a weapon used in self defence was auto or semi?
All you need to know to realize that Hollywood and the MSM are idiots when it comes to guns is watch ONE episode of CSI where someone used a 38 caliber weapon. The CSI says 'it was a 357 magnum' or ' a 380' or 'a 9mm', etc. You can NOT tell what caliber gun it was that closely since all of those guns use the same diameter bullet and come in the same weights. They also try to claim the gun as 'automatic' or 'revolver' without even seeing the gun first.
The worst was when someone used a 5.7x28 caliber gun and the show called it a 28 mm round! Just remember that the MSM gets ALL of it's gun information from Hollywood and the VPC and you know they have an agenda.
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