Editorial May/June 2007
By: Smith n’ Jones
Who the heck is Jim Zumbo and why should I care? That was the response (more or less) that I received when I called a friend to tell him about the mass detonation (or implosion as one SASS Wire poster called it) I read about on the SASS Wire Monday, February 19th. After being directed from the SASS Wire to Mr. Zumbo’s website I found that Mr. Zumbo, a well known gun/hunting writer, television personality, Remington Arms spokesman, and internet blogger stuck his foot in his mouth, or his head in another orifice of his body, and said some things that a lot of hunters, shooters, gun collectors, and Second Amendment defenders (myself included) took grave exception to. Now, I will take neither the time nor space here to review in depth what was stated on his blog site, but the Readers Digest Condensed Book version goes something like this: After a day of varmint hunting, Mr. Zumbo wrote on his Remington Arms sponsored blog that he was informed by his guide that the military styled AR-15 series of rifles were becoming quite popular with varmint hunters across the country, at which statement Mr. Zumbo proceeded to say several less than kind things about the AR-15 semi-auto rifle and those that would hunt with them, ultimately calling them (the rifle, that is) “assault” rifles (a term that is grossly incorrect for this particular firearm) and then ultimately stating that he would go so far as to call them “terrorist” rifles that should be banned from use by Fish and Game Departments across the country. For reasons that are crystal clear to most of us, his words set off a firestorm that manifested itself in more that 2,000 mostly hostile and angry responses on his blog as well as most hunting, shooting, and outdoor websites and periodicals. Most demanded his head at best and termination of his employment and rights as a hunter/sportsman spokesman at the least.
Now, what does all this have to do with Western-action shooting and SHOOT! Magazine? Well, the fact is that there has been a growing split, division if you will, between those that shoot recreationally (CAS, Trap, Skeet, IDPA, IPSC, etc.) and those that hunt. Many of us participate in both and see no real issue or cause for differences between the two or reason for any controversy. But, there are many, many others, perhaps the majority of shooters in this country, that participate in only one form of shooting sport and couldn’t care less about the others. Therein lies the problem. Call it what you will, arrogance, elitism, superiority, ignorance, whatever, but the plain truth is that with the attacks against gun ownership and Second Amendment rights that go on every day, we, the shooting public, can’t afford to alienate any other shooters or gun owners for any reason. For one segment of the shooting fraternity to think they are better, wiser, or more noble, based on the games they play or the kind of firearms they use is ignorance at best and elitism at its worst. It is not only just plain wrong but it creates the kind of chinks in the pro-gun armor that the gun control elite need to reach their ultimate goal of disarming the American public. Even this disaster has given the enemy a huge cache of ammo with the Brady Bunch already jumping on board and announcing that one of the foremost hunting and shooting spokesmen in America is on their side agreeing that no one should have these “assault” type weapons. All we can do now is work on damage control and try to head off another disaster like this one. If you think it is just about taking away those nasty, black plastic “assault” rifles and pistols that “no one really needs anyway,” you are sadly mistaken. The Constitution says not one word about duck hunting, cowboy action shooting, or any other recreational form of shooting. The Second Amendment is all about personal and corporate self defense. No more and no less. All these fun things we get to do with our firearms, be it is hunting, target shooting, plinking, or competition, are just fringe benefits of the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Unfortunately, I have also read on some of these blogs and even on the SASS Wire individuals bad-mouthing the NRA as too weak and too PC to be of any real help in the fight for gun rights. Well, you know there might be some truth to those sentiments, but as a NRA Life Endowment member, let me tell you that the NRA is the one and only pro-gun, Second Amendment rights organization that the opposition fears and that has the ability to organize and unify the shooters and hunters of this country. I am not putting down any other group with similar goals, I love them all, but in this world there is strength in numbers and only as a unified force, speaking with one voice can we expect to be heard. Yeah, I know you get tired of all those cards and letters from the NRA asking for money and looking to sell you something, so do I. But, it takes a lot of money to run any business and the NRA is the big kid on block when it comes to gun rights and the best bang for my buck that I have seen yet. If you are a shooter, hunter, gun collector, care even a little about being able to play your game, pass your gun collection on to your kids, or want to protect your right to self defense and you are not a member of NRA, you are making a big, no, make that a huge mistake. It never ceases to amaze me that nationally somewhere around 30 million hunting licenses are sold each year, but all those folks leave it up to about four million of us to protect their right to go duck hunting. That’s just plain wrong.
So, the next time you are thinking about demeaning someone because they happen to enjoy hunting Whitetail deer or because they would rather shoot a semi-automatic rifle or pistol, regardless of the configuration, you better think again. These are your brothers and sisters in arms, literally. Next time you’re at the range and you see someone shooting a type of firearm that is not necessarily your favorite, stop and talk with them and ask to shoot it. Who knows, you may find something to like that you never thought you would and that person may just find an interest in your cowboy guns. Like most families we may fight a little internally but to the outside world we had better present a united front. As firearm owners and freedom lovers our one and only chance to defeat those who would take away our most precious right is to stick together and support one another. May it ever be so.
With the rapid growth and popularity of Cowboy Fast Draw as a Western action shooting sport SHOOT! Magazine is including the CFDA Gunslinger’s Gazette as an insert in our magazine. This is not to be a regular feature but something that we wanted to share with all our readers, especially those who are not familiar with this new, fast, and exciting sport. You will find a lot of useful information in the pages of the Gazette including interviews with the current world champions, “Quick Cal” Eilrich and Lori “Dusty Bottoms” Adrihan. This addition is just that, additional pages to Shoot! Magazine with no page deduction of our regular magazine content. We hope you enjoy the Gazette.
Who the heck is Jim Zumbo and why should I care? That was the response (more or less) that I received when I called a friend to tell him about the mass detonation (or implosion as one SASS Wire poster called it) I read about on the SASS Wire Monday, February 19th. After being directed from the SASS Wire to Mr. Zumbo’s website I found that Mr. Zumbo, a well known gun/hunting writer, television personality, Remington Arms spokesman, and internet blogger stuck his foot in his mouth, or his head in another orifice of his body, and said some things that a lot of hunters, shooters, gun collectors, and Second Amendment defenders (myself included) took grave exception to. Now, I will take neither the time nor space here to review in depth what was stated on his blog site, but the Readers Digest Condensed Book version goes something like this: After a day of varmint hunting, Mr. Zumbo wrote on his Remington Arms sponsored blog that he was informed by his guide that the military styled AR-15 series of rifles were becoming quite popular with varmint hunters across the country, at which statement Mr. Zumbo proceeded to say several less than kind things about the AR-15 semi-auto rifle and those that would hunt with them, ultimately calling them (the rifle, that is) “assault” rifles (a term that is grossly incorrect for this particular firearm) and then ultimately stating that he would go so far as to call them “terrorist” rifles that should be banned from use by Fish and Game Departments across the country. For reasons that are crystal clear to most of us, his words set off a firestorm that manifested itself in more that 2,000 mostly hostile and angry responses on his blog as well as most hunting, shooting, and outdoor websites and periodicals. Most demanded his head at best and termination of his employment and rights as a hunter/sportsman spokesman at the least.
Now, what does all this have to do with Western-action shooting and SHOOT! Magazine? Well, the fact is that there has been a growing split, division if you will, between those that shoot recreationally (CAS, Trap, Skeet, IDPA, IPSC, etc.) and those that hunt. Many of us participate in both and see no real issue or cause for differences between the two or reason for any controversy. But, there are many, many others, perhaps the majority of shooters in this country, that participate in only one form of shooting sport and couldn’t care less about the others. Therein lies the problem. Call it what you will, arrogance, elitism, superiority, ignorance, whatever, but the plain truth is that with the attacks against gun ownership and Second Amendment rights that go on every day, we, the shooting public, can’t afford to alienate any other shooters or gun owners for any reason. For one segment of the shooting fraternity to think they are better, wiser, or more noble, based on the games they play or the kind of firearms they use is ignorance at best and elitism at its worst. It is not only just plain wrong but it creates the kind of chinks in the pro-gun armor that the gun control elite need to reach their ultimate goal of disarming the American public. Even this disaster has given the enemy a huge cache of ammo with the Brady Bunch already jumping on board and announcing that one of the foremost hunting and shooting spokesmen in America is on their side agreeing that no one should have these “assault” type weapons. All we can do now is work on damage control and try to head off another disaster like this one. If you think it is just about taking away those nasty, black plastic “assault” rifles and pistols that “no one really needs anyway,” you are sadly mistaken. The Constitution says not one word about duck hunting, cowboy action shooting, or any other recreational form of shooting. The Second Amendment is all about personal and corporate self defense. No more and no less. All these fun things we get to do with our firearms, be it is hunting, target shooting, plinking, or competition, are just fringe benefits of the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Unfortunately, I have also read on some of these blogs and even on the SASS Wire individuals bad-mouthing the NRA as too weak and too PC to be of any real help in the fight for gun rights. Well, you know there might be some truth to those sentiments, but as a NRA Life Endowment member, let me tell you that the NRA is the one and only pro-gun, Second Amendment rights organization that the opposition fears and that has the ability to organize and unify the shooters and hunters of this country. I am not putting down any other group with similar goals, I love them all, but in this world there is strength in numbers and only as a unified force, speaking with one voice can we expect to be heard. Yeah, I know you get tired of all those cards and letters from the NRA asking for money and looking to sell you something, so do I. But, it takes a lot of money to run any business and the NRA is the big kid on block when it comes to gun rights and the best bang for my buck that I have seen yet. If you are a shooter, hunter, gun collector, care even a little about being able to play your game, pass your gun collection on to your kids, or want to protect your right to self defense and you are not a member of NRA, you are making a big, no, make that a huge mistake. It never ceases to amaze me that nationally somewhere around 30 million hunting licenses are sold each year, but all those folks leave it up to about four million of us to protect their right to go duck hunting. That’s just plain wrong.
So, the next time you are thinking about demeaning someone because they happen to enjoy hunting Whitetail deer or because they would rather shoot a semi-automatic rifle or pistol, regardless of the configuration, you better think again. These are your brothers and sisters in arms, literally. Next time you’re at the range and you see someone shooting a type of firearm that is not necessarily your favorite, stop and talk with them and ask to shoot it. Who knows, you may find something to like that you never thought you would and that person may just find an interest in your cowboy guns. Like most families we may fight a little internally but to the outside world we had better present a united front. As firearm owners and freedom lovers our one and only chance to defeat those who would take away our most precious right is to stick together and support one another. May it ever be so.
With the rapid growth and popularity of Cowboy Fast Draw as a Western action shooting sport SHOOT! Magazine is including the CFDA Gunslinger’s Gazette as an insert in our magazine. This is not to be a regular feature but something that we wanted to share with all our readers, especially those who are not familiar with this new, fast, and exciting sport. You will find a lot of useful information in the pages of the Gazette including interviews with the current world champions, “Quick Cal” Eilrich and Lori “Dusty Bottoms” Adrihan. This addition is just that, additional pages to Shoot! Magazine with no page deduction of our regular magazine content. We hope you enjoy the Gazette.
posted by SHOOT! MAGAZINE | 12:13 PM
