Is NBC Chicago deceptive or incompetent in their 'assault weapon' hit piece?

November 11, 11:30 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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   Courtesy Oleg Volk, A Human Right

The headline is hysterical enough. From "reporter" Kim Vatis, NBC Chicago:

City Sees Assault Weapons Increase on Streets
ATF: Use of heavy caliber, military-style weapons up 17 percent this year

Note the question "Up over what?" is never raised, let alone answered. But to paraphrase the religious bumper sticker, ATF said it, I believe it, that settles it. And we all know how trustworthy they are. Just ask their whistle-blowers.

But say we can establish an objective truth to the claim. The question then becomes "So what?" This entire story revolves around the most prohibitive gun laws in the country being ignored.

Pointing out ignorance and manipulation in this story is easy--it's not a question of where to start--it's a question of when to stop.

The AK-47 can shoot "from nearly a block away"? A .22 LR can range well over a mile. Appleseed trains average people to shoot targets at 500 yards. 7.62 X 39 rounds are the benchmark for being powerful? That's the small one in the picture to the right, piggy-backed on a .30-06. And if you're going to ban guns firing rounds that can defeat police ballistic vests, there go centerfire rifles.

But even this isn't where the ultimate demonstration of either deliberate deception or ignorance-based negligence is foisted on the public in this shameful piece of propaganda masquerading as "straight news" journalism.

Take the accompanying video (please!), "Warzone Weapons Assault City Streets." First, semiautomatic (one shot per trigger squeeze) variants are not standard battlefield issue, and that's where an old lie is yet again being exploited.

They're shooting full auto:

"It'll empty this entire magazine in about three seconds."

And who thought it a good idea to hand such a firearm over to someone who demonstrably knows nothing about safe gun handling? They're not "almost impossible to control," Kim. Still, you do have to know what the hell you're doing, and that it's your responsibility to control it. Which you don't.

Let me get this straight: The person who knows least about a firearm is the one given a far-reaching forum to expound on it to others? 

But the main point is, selective fire rifles are not the weapons affected by the federal ban you tell people "expired in 2004." Those were all semi-autos. And this is all part of a continuing deception some of us are not going to allow you to get away with.

Some of us have been exposing this ...uh... lie when perpetrated by other news organizations for years. And some have been reporting how little you "Authorized Journalists" are interested in learning the truth--or repeating it once you learn it. You're propagating a calculated strategy devised with the express purpose to demonize and ban guns:

In a September 1988 report on "assault weapons" that he prepared for the Education Fund to End Handgun Violence, gun control advocate Josh Sugarmann candidly observed: "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..."

So which is it, Kim? Deception or malpractice? Did you know all this, but went ahead and presented your report the way you did anyway? Or is this news to you, in which case you have no business presenting yourself as an authoritative voice molding public opinion, and, in fact are irresponsible to the point of being willfully negligent?

I mean, it's not like authoritative resources don't exist for an Emmy-nominated "Best Reporter" with access to, say, Google...

Or is this just a continuation of NBC's vaunted ethics when it comes to reporting just the facts without injecting reporter bias or engineered outcomes?

Don't you people have a GM truck to blow up or something?

[Thanks to HZ for the tip]

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Meet & greet

It's that time of year again. Ohioans for Concealed Carry has announced the dates for their annual holiday get-togethers.

Click here for details.

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Sense and sensibility

From Liberty Belles:

Chicago Mayor Daley has blamed the Ft. Hood massacre on America's love of guns.

Of course he has. But you'll notice he's not hating the ones his taxpayer-funded bodyguards are packing.  That's what he means by "sensible gun laws."

Forget it Jake, it's Chi-Town.

Click here to read Jennifer Freeman's thoughts.