Posted on 02/22/2007 5:37:12 AM PST by holymoly
THERE IS A bit of a rift going on in the outdoor sporting world between hunters and gun enthusiasts, which sometimes are one in the same.
The raucousness started when longtime outdoors writer Jim Zumbo of Outdoor Life magazine posted a story online that said assault rifles -- he also called them terrorist rifles -- had no place in the hunting community, even suggesting that game departments ban them from the prairies and woods.
According to The Shooting Wire web site, he tried to apologize, attributing his remarks to being tired following a long day of hunting coyotes in extreme weather conditions.
Outdoor Life announced it was discontinuing the "Hunting With Zumbo" blog "for the time being" due to the "controversy surrounding Jim Zumbo's latest postings."
Their notice went on to remind readers "Outdoor Life has always been, and will always be, a steadfast supporter of our Second Amendment rights which do not make distinctions based on the looks of the firearms we choose to own, shoot and take hunting."
Assault rifle enthusiasts were quick to call for boycotts of products associated with Zumbo, according to The Shooting Wire, which included Remington. Zumbo, a National Rifle Association member for 40 years, quickly found his sponsors bailing.
"There was little, if anything, that would assuage an angry horde of electronically mobilized AR (Assault Rifle) fans. They considered Zumbo's remarks as being tantamount to a sellout, with Zumbo offering up "black rifles" as a sacrificial lamb for anti-gun forces," said the wire service.
The rancor continued with The Shooting Wire founder Jim Shepherd, saying, "We don't owe him our loyalty, our support, or our forgiveness, but we owe him for motivating us to tell the industry they'd better start paying attention to the silent majority.
"Even if you call us 'shooters' or 'paper punchers' or 'plinkers' or whatever, there are many more of us than there are hunters. And we're neither terrorists nor fools."
This is a rift that could continue to grow, and maybe this split was a long time coming. As one bumper-sticker type sign that used to hang in The Island in Libertyville said, "The Second Amendment ain't about duck hunting."
But hunters and shooters regularly mix at shooting clubs like the one in Bristol, Wis., and you have to wonder if animosity between the groups could grow. Shepherd says Zumbo's opinion is common in hard core hunter circles.
I remember one time hunting a piece of land near Richmond and some young guys from Chicago came out as my brothers and I were leaving. One of them had an unusual gun for hunting, a sawed off shotgun. We thought that was stupid, but the Second Amendment doesn't make any distinctions, right?
The AR rifles are accurate weapons and could easily be used for hunting big game like deer, but I'm sure gun manufacturers would suggest a better weapon.
So maybe Zumbo was a dumbo for even going there in a hunting article. These rifles are used in competitions or bought for home security, but is supporting a ban on them the first slide on a slippery slope of having guns outlawed all together? The Assault Weapons Ban was re-introduced in congress this month.
So, now I've written myself into a corner, of sorts. I know someone who shot an automatic (illegal) AK-47 who said it was really cool. He's not and never was in the military. Another friend recently told me of how his daughter, never having shot a gun before, was taken to the range by her boyfriend and "had a blast" shooting different handguns, and, I think, rifles at targets. No blood ... big fun.
But then I go back around to deceased Chicago columnist Mike Royko's column where he suggested that the best in home security for grandma would be hand grenades. If grandma heard someone in the basement, why take the chance of confronting the intruder with a shotgun, or any type of gun.
So now I'm back in that corner again. How much is too much. And if you give a little, will you lose a lot? Is the gun industry going to push more and more "black rifles" and their handgun counterparts because it is a growth field and hunting is supposedly becoming old hat?
So many questions in this controversy, and I'm not finding a bunch of immediate answers. Except, "Leave my gun alone: is different than "Leave my RPG" (Rocket Propelled Grenade) alone.
There has to be a line somewhere. Just where does it start?
With that same rifle, that man can also protect his family against the unknown. I suspect that fact makes certain people uncomfortable.
Well, that's too bad. The 2A isn't about hunting.
BTW, I won't be using the term "Fudds" any more. It's time to patch our wounds, forgive, and keep our collective eyes on the ball: HR 1022.
I agree.
I'll also be steering people ambivalent about semi-autos to the Brady Campaign blog entry, I posted earlier.
Perhaps, when they realize just what is at stake, they'll understand why stopping H.R. 1022 is important to all of us, "hunter" and "gun-owner" alike.
It's just snobbery, plain and simple. A snobbery caused by decades of being completely insulated from real life by an endless river of free stuff and unlimited expense accounts. To these guys, if you're not using a custom built, gold inlaid, engraved over-under that costs as much as a fully optioned out SUV, you're a redneck savage, and what you're doing isn't "hunting."
I'll bet if you did a quick survey, you'd find that Zumbo and every one of his pals at Outdoor Life voted for John Kerry in 2004, based largely on those ridiculous photo op pictures of him hunting geese with his dog pointing the wrong way and posing in a shooting stance that looked more like he was getting ready to take a dump.
I hadn't thought of it, but this IS a good idea.
Actually, there is (or was) a .22LR conversion for the AR-15.
I know, but who in the world would hunt anything but squirrels with it?
He might be a great hunting guru but he imploded in slow motion. The amazing response made me feel optimism about the currents in this country. The author of this article is a fool hoping to exploit a rift between hunters and shooters that doesn't exist in fact.
This is true...they're elitist snobs and FOOLS and IDIOTS. A lot of them are Democrats who really buy into the BIG LIE that the gun grabbers will stop with the ugly black rifles....
Ya' got me.
Squirrels, rabbits, and maybe plinking (shooting pennies, rather than nickles and dimes).
You can get 'em online at the following link:
http://www.m1garandrifle.com/Garandparts.htm
Scroll down to part no. G76a. I've used them (in 2-round mode; they're "reversible") in service rifle competition, which requires 10-round shot strings.
Try here: CHEAPER THAN DIRT
I got a ton of hunting CLIPS for my Garand from these guys. Or if you have to, you can take a Dremel to your clips and just cut them down to only accept 5rds.
Nothing slow-motion at all about Zumbo's implosion. Within two days of that blog post, his two major sponsors had pulled the plug on him, and if it hadn't been a holiday weekend, I believe he would have been out on his ass even sooner. We blowed him up real good.
The zumbos just don't get it.The brady bunch and their allies want all guns and weapons banned
People need to look at what england has become after its gun bans.its only because the US public is armed that it's not happened here
He can also protect them against an oppressive government, the original intent of the 2nd amendment.
It also uses centerfire ammunition not rim fire 22LRs.
Agreed, and what that means is we have to convince these guys who consider themselves hard core hunters that the Jim Zumbos of the world do not have their best interests at heart when they encourage them to consider owners of "black rifles" to be "terrorists" whose weapons should be banned "for the good of hunting."
Like you said, the super rich and connected will always have their "sporting arms", and Jim Zumbo and his limousine liberals in Realtree pals will always get invitations to come up and hunt their land in exchange for a favorable column in Outdoor Life. Even after the Brady Bunch and their hired politicians, after taking away our "evil black rifles", take away the hunters' "high powered, scoped sniper rifles."
First, dedicated rimfire upper assemblies for the AR are available from several sources. AR-15.com has a "rimfire and pistol calibers" forum where more details can be had.
Second, I believe that the idea is to allow AR shooters to get in more trigger time with the cheapest and most widely available ammo on the planet. The more you use the same sights, trigger, safety and so on, the better.
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