Posted on 03/09/2018 8:56:40 AM PST by MarvinStinson
A pair of left-leaning reporters complained in an op-ed and on social media that gun-rights activists are wrong to demand that they learn gun terminology before opining on gun policy.
Writing for the Washington Post this week, journalist Adam Weinstein complained that "The NRA and its allies use jargon to bully gun-control supporters."
"While debating the merits of various gun-control proposals, Second Amendment enthusiasts often diminish, or outright dismiss their views if they use imprecise firearms terminology," Weinstein wrote.
"Perhaps someone tweets about ‘assault-style' weapons, only to be told that there's no such thing," he continued. "Maybe they're reprimanded that an AR-15 is neither an assault rifle nor ‘high-powered.' Or they say something about ‘machine guns' when they really mean semiautomatic rifles."
Wesintein coined this phenomenon "gunsplaining" and complained that it is "always done in bad faith."
"Like mansplaining, it's less about adding to the discourse than smothering it," he added.
Vox reporter Zack Beauchamp agreed, arguing on Twitter that there is not a need for gun-control proponents to have knowledge of the terminology.
Zack Beauchamp
Saying you need to understand gun terminology to have opinions on gun policy is the equivalent of saying you need to understand the biology of a heroin overdose to have an opinion on the drug war
Beauchamp's tweet was promptly "ratioed," with journalists and activists on the other side of the issue expressing their disagreement.
Jay Caruso
It’s not just terminology. When people say things like, “The AR-15 can fire 700 rounds a minute” or say handguns “are too slow” to stop a school shooter, they speak from a position of total ignorance. Why should we listen to them?
Noah Rothman
This analogy aside, we should always demand intellectual rigor and specificity from folks commenting with any authority on public affairs. And we do.
Stephen Miller
Isn’t it your job to explain things?
It is way worse than that!
When someone in the press writes in the press many of the ignorant people reading their piece will assume that they know what they are talking about and opinions will be formed.
It not corrected immediately people will be misled and the damage is difficult to correct once that opinion is reinforced by further misinformation by similarly uninformed writing.
The overwhelming majority of reporter/SJW activists, “journalists”, and MSM media shills/hacks, are either too lazy an/or stupid to actually research anything they report on. Instead, the brain-dead idiots just rely on DNC talking points, and news feeds from equally brain-dead leftist wire services.
Assault rifle does not have a definition. It arises out of confusion that the “ar” in ar15 stands for “assault rifle” rather than Armalite. It’s just stupid. The term does not have a definitive definition.
Assault rifles use a medium cartridge and are capable of select fire.
The STG44 was the first of the type.
The AK-47 and the M-16 followed.
The semi-auto only variants are not assault rifles.
They are not capable of select fire.
Illegal aliens are not undocumented immigrants, either.
‘where have I heard that before?’
no doubt from your wife/girlfriend/significant other...
If a reporter is writing a story about proctology, I do expect them to know the difference between their a$$ and a hole in the ground. If writing about guns...
Well someone has to explain to the snowflakes that you can’t put a semiautomatic rifle on “FULL semiautomatic”. We’ve got to do something to stop confusing readers and viewers.
I prefer undocumented criminals ;)
Hey Morons! Gunspaining is not a word. It’s a fake work. O wait, now I see, fake journalist in fake news use fake language.
“Writing for the Washington Post this week, journalist Adam Weinstein complained that “The NRA and its allies use jargon to bully gun-control supporters.”
The ignorant crap that the gun-grabbers spew is not a matter of jargon. It’s a matter of lying. In my estimation, lying out of ignorance is equivalent to lying deliberately, when the speaker has a moral duty to have his facts straight.
One should not make excuses for gun-grabbers, or ever forgive them. They seek to steal your liberty. They are among the forces of evil.
“Illegal aliens are not undocumented immigrants, either.
I prefer undocumented criminals ;)”
I heard “Undocumented Citizens” once and almost spit my coffee.
The total ignorance would not be nearly so dark a thing, if it were not also WILLFUL total ignorance. There is such a thing as never have been apprised of the existence of a body of knowledge, and then there is knowing the body of knowledge exists, but refusing to examine it in any way, shape, form or manner.
“Journalist” = Career path for s***-for-brains Trust Fund Babies and J.A.P.’s(male or female).
So telling the truth is now “mansplaining”. So much for unbiased objectivity.
How can one have an intellegent view on what specific types of weapons ought to have what kind of policy if one does not understand the features of weapons and how they compare to other weapons? And how is one able to learn about such things if one doesnt even learn the words that are used to talk about them? Should I trust a surgeon that doesnt know any medical terms? How likely are they to do the surgery right?
That's usually good for a gasp and a vigorous head shake.
Definitely spit/spew worthy.
“High powered weapons”
Are these ray guns? Exactly how much “power” is there in an AR-15?
If you are to stupid or ignorant to have the proper understanding of ANYTHING you have no reasonable expectation that people will listen to anything you say or believe anything you write.
Mistakes are 1 thing, outright ignorance and stupidity is another thing altogether.
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