Career suicide by blog
Posted by Richard on February 21, 2007
Outdoor Life’s hunting editor, Jim Zumbo, has had a blog at the Outdoor Life site. Apparently, Zumbo thinks only "sporting firearms" in the hands of "gentleman hunters" should be legal. I suppose he means bolt-action rifles and over/under shotguns with lovely walnut stocks and maybe some fine filigree — the kind of weapon one would be proud to show off at the country club while sharing cigars and brandy with one’s chums.
On Saturday, Zumbo posted a rant against hunters who use "assault rifles" — you know, self-loading, semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines and ugly black plastic stocks instead of fine wood. In fact, Zumbo called them "terrorist rifles," thus linking the legions of fans of the AR15 and other "ugly black guns" to terrorism. The post is no longer available — in fact, Outdoor Life has removed his blog:
Due to the controversy surrounding Jim Zumbo’s recent postings, Outdoor Life has decided to discontinue the “Hunting With Zumbo” blog for the time being. 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. Please direct any comments you have to OLletters@time4.com.
On Sunday, Libercontrarian came out of retirement to post Zumbo’s rant, along with his own highly appropriate critique and some interesting links. Apparently, Zumbo’s ignorant, elitist, and anti-2nd-Amendment attitude ignited a firestorm of protest. On Monday, Libercontrarian posted an update — Remington has terminated its sponsorship of Zumbo:
As a result of comments made by Mr. Jim Zumbo in recent postings on his blog site, Remington Arms Company, Inc., has severed all sponsorship ties with Mr. Zumbo effective immediately. While Mr. Zumbo is entitled to his opinions and has the constitutional right to freely express those opinions, these comments are solely his, and do not reflect the views of Remington.
Good for them. And good for Outdoor Life. And three cheers for ugly black guns. Hey, Zumbo, here’s a suggestion for a mea culpa that might save your sorry ass:
"The other day, I said some very stupid things, and I want to apologize. I’ve been reminded that the 2nd Amendment is not about duck hunting. And I realize that my personal aesthetic and emotional reactions to a particular type of firearm are totally irrelevant to your right to own and use it for any honest, peaceful purpose. I’m very, very sorry for suggesting otherwise."
If that doesn’t work for you, Zumbo, you’d best look into a career change. I’m sure that any of several gun control organizations, which lately have been trying to conceal their real agenda behind "safety" and "violence prevention" smokescreens, would be happy to hire you. They’re always looking for another "sportsmen for more gun-control" spokesman.
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