NRA, Outdoor Life & Remington Dump Zumbo

[Pat McGarrity]

Justice for Jim Zumbo
(Will we fight the next gun ban as hard?)

You have a right to speak your mind in our great country, but not a right to be heard. It's not likely we will be hearing from "gun writer", Jim Zumbo, any more. After opining on his blog that AR & AK rifles were "terrorist rifles" and should be banned from hunting; thousands, if not millions of YOU, contacted his sponsors and they heard us loud and clear. The NRA, Remington and Outdoor Life have cut their ties with Mr. Zumbo, and rightfully so. It's rumored that Cabela's will too. We should applaud these organizations for acting quickly and decisively.

Mr. Zumbo's misguided rant has already, predictably, been used by professional gun grabbers. The Brady Bunch posted his comments to several places on the net, saying, in effect, "See, even the top hunting writer says these rifles have no legitimate use."

Like many of you, I was deeply insulted when Mr. Zumbo basically called us terrorists, because we own these fine rifles. To be honest, I have no pity for Mr. Zumbo. I just challenge each and every one of you to contact your elected representatives with the same commitment to protect our civil rights, when the next unconstitutional attack on our right to keep and bear arms is introduced in the congress and/or legislature.

Tom Gresham may state this best, as David Waldrip points out below. Here are links to the Remington and Outdoor Life statements. Congratulations on a job well done to all of you who spoke out against Mr. Zumbo's ignorant, hypocritical statements!

In Liberty,

Patriot Pat McGarrity

Director - Shelby County, TFA

http://www.remington.com/library/press/2007/2007-1.asp

http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/colu ... 23,00.html

Thanks to David Waldrip for the NRA press release:

NRA Publications Suspends Ties to Jim Zumbo


(FAIRFAX, VA) - The following statement was issued by the National Rifle
Association of America.

Comments expressed by outdoor writer Jim Zumbo reflect neither the
opinions of the National Rifle Association and America's gun owners, nor
are they an accurate portrayal of facts in regard to semi-automatic
firearms lawfully owned by millions of citizens. Therefore, NRA
Publications has suspended its professional ties with Mr. Zumbo.
The ensuing wave of grassroots response in support of the Second
Amendment is a clear indication that America's gun owners will act
swiftly and decisively to counter falsehoods or misrepresentations
perpetuated by any member of the media - whether it is one of the major
networks or a fellow gun owner.

That depth of feeling and the unanimity of the response from the
nation's firearms owners sends a message to the new Congress. It says
that millions of people understand the issue of semi-autos and will
resist with an immense singular political will any attempts to create a
new ban on semi-automatic firearms.

At the root of this grassroots response is the basic truth that 'gun
control merely makes the innocent pay the price for the guilty' and our
folks fully understand that their rights are at stake. It says that for
the enemies of the Second Amendment there is no chance that the kind of
divide and conquer propaganda strategy which preceded the 1994 ban on
semi-auto firearms will ever succeed again.

It is our hope that Mr. Zumbo will use his energy and talent to help
preserve our Second Amendment, America's First Freedom, by ensuring that
no one else falls prey to the tragic demonization of gun owners.

I'd also like to point you to this blog post by Tom Gresham of Gun Talk, especially if you'd like more background. And, most importantly of all, read and reread Tom's observations in the last seven paragraphs.

http://www.guntalk.com/site.php?pageID=15&newsID=12d

More to come in the next few days and weeks as to my opinion on where we go from here.

Thanks.

David Waldrip
NRA-ILA Election Volunteer Coordinator
TN-7