Outdoor Life Writer wants AWB in hunting?

Corporal Joined: Dec 12, 2006 Posts: 327

http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/zumbo/2007/02/assault_rifles_.html#comment-60831738

Wow! What a debate. The kalashnikov design is excellent but outlawed where I live (Cook County, Illinois). So is our main military rifle (AR-15 series) both as "assault weapons". We sure are no longer a nation of Spartan warriors. I am against outlawing "assault weapons" because i believe everyone should become more familiar with weapons as our war against terrorism heats up more and more. Whether such weapons or variants tehreof are used in hunting should be up to the game departments. The Romans had special spears for warfare with soft thinner forward shafts that broke in what they hit off so that the spear could not be used agaisnt them in return thrust (fire?) and became stuck in the enemies shield. The thinner tip also provided better penetration. I don't know if the Romans prohibited these spear shafts for animal hunting? OR forbade citizens from owning these shafts or forbade citizns from practicing with such spears? Nice column- in the tradition of Andy Kaufman (my hero, he was a practitioner of anti-humor or dada absurdist performance art) as it is meant to enrage, make the author popular and cause controversy. The audience falls for it every time!

Corporal Joined: Sep 20, 2005 Posts: 788

well I have an AR15 and I'm not hunter. It seems that arguments against the AR15 and other assault rifles comes down to two levels.

1) Hunting

2) Gangbangers, and crazies

Seems that the issue with assault rifle's arguments comes down to this level. Like if your not one of these categories, you don't own one. Well, that is what it seem in media.

Like I said and I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but many law-abiding gun owners have and use "assault weapons" for target shooting. I don't see that aspect of shooting come out in articles, news reports, or politicians.

So if I new nothing about "assault weapons" except the movies, I would be moving toward an AWB instead of trying to fund the real truth.

Now I don't approve of using an AK or an AR15 for hunting, but like I mentioned I'm a target shooter. On some other blogs with anti-gunners present, they haven't been able to mount an argument gainst me owning and using my weapons.

Newbie Joined: Oct 16, 2005 Posts: 23

AK or AR hell. I have friends in Wisconsin who hunt white tail with M-1 Carbines.

Personally I prefer to hunker down under a tree or creep through the woods with a .44 Mag. Redhawk for deer and boar. Some use a 6" .357.

Corporal Joined: Sep 20, 2005 Posts: 788

I guess the main point is that there are more than just hunters that shoot. I personally don't hunt, probably never will. But I do shoot for my own challenge and I have gotten the question from people that know nothing about guns asking me:

Why do you own such weapons

Of which I answer, that I am a target shooter and I use such weapons for the challenge of target shooting. shooting is more of a challenge than you realize and is a lot of fun when you give it a chance.

I don't recommend or encourage people to use ""assault weapons"" for hunting. The .223 round desintegrates upon target impact and is kinda like an explosive bullet, so I don't recommend it, but for killing paper targets it is a great weapon. Plus many americans have forgotton that America was founded by the marksmenship of it's civilian shooters, now yes we have an effective military but we have a tradition that should never be ignored or banned by a cook county AWB.

More people use "assault weapons" for positive purposes than people who use them for negative reasons; but unfortunately there is much more attention given to the negative uses.

Cadet Joined: Jan 31, 2007 Posts: 65 Location: southern IL

rwbazillion wrote:

I don't approve of using an AK or an AR15 for hunting.

Although I don't, I have noticed on other gun forums, that quite a few individuals use AR15's for varmint hunting, for such criters as coyotes & prairie dogs.

However, I don't believe the typical AK is quite accurate enough for this particular practice; not to say that it isn't useful for hunting other criters.

Newbie Joined: Dec 07, 2006 Posts: 7

"I don't approve of using an AK or an AR15 for hunting."

Does something about a reliable rifle made from modern materials bother people? Apparently so. Perhaps the old "Beware of the man who owns ONE rifle" is what bothers people, because it is the weapon he knows how to use. I for one hardily APPROVE of people using semi-auto and military weapons in hunting because it is through constant exposure that people become acclimated to the NEW being NORMAL. Take those M-14s and FALs and AR-10s hunting in Wisconsin!

Initiate Joined: May 19, 2006 Posts: 33

sticks wrote:

However, I don't believe the typical AK is quite accurate enough for this particular practice; not to say that it isn't useful for hunting other criters.

I don't know if mine is "typical" or not, but my AK with the milled receiver is quite accurate. In fact, I find it as accurate as a couple of my friends' ARs. I'm not sure how much better the Bulgarian AK is over the other AKs, but I love it!

Corporal Joined: Dec 12, 2006 Posts: 327

Outdoor Life writer Jim Zumbo insulted hunters who use variants of :assault rifles" (which are toned down for hunting and today apologized on Ted Nugent's website-

http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/zumbo/2007/02/assault_rifles_.html#comment-60831738

Here's Jim Zumbo's summary of the last few days, and his explanation, as of today:

"The last few days have been an educational experience, to say the least. My ill-conceived inflammatory blog, as all of you now know, set off a firestorm that, I’m told, has never before been equaled. I’m not proud of that.
Let me say this at the outset. My words here are from the heart, and all mine. No one can censor me, and I answer to no one but myself. And I have no one to blame but myself. Outdoor Life, a magazine that I worked for full-time as Hunting Editor for almost 30 years, fired me yesterday. My TV show was cancelled yesterday. Many of my sponsors have issued statements on their website to sever all relationships. This may cause many of you to do backflips and dance in the streets, but, of course, I’m not laughing, nor am I looking for sympathy. I don’t want a pity party.

They say hindsight is golden. Looking back, I can’t believe I said the words “ban” and “terrorist” in the context that I did. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote that. I can explain this as sheer ignorance and an irresponsible use of words. What I’ve learned over the last few days has enlightened and amazed me. As a guy who hunts 200 days a year, does seminars on hunting, wrote for six hunting magazines, had a hunting TV show, and wrote 20 books on hunting, how could I have been so ignorant and out of touch with reality in the world of hunting and shooting?

But I was. I really can’t explain it, maybe because I just summarily dismissed the firearms in question in my mind when I saw them in magazines and catalogs. I saw one “black” firearm in a hunting camp in all my 50 years of hunting, and I shot one last year off a boat when fishing in Alaska. To tell the truth, it was fun and I enjoyed it immensely, but I never considered one for use in hunting. I have to tell you that I have had a revelation. I’m learning that many of my pals own AR-15’s and similar firearms and indeed use them for hunting. I was totally unaware that they were being used for legitimate hunting purposes. That is the absolute truth.

My biggest regret is not the financial impact of all this. I’m almost 67 and retirement is an option. The dreadful impact here is that I inadvertently struck a spear into the hearts of the people I love most…America’s gun owners. And, even though this huge cadre of dedicated people have succeeded in stripping me of my career, I hold no grudges. I will continue to stand as firm on pro hunting as I’ve ever done. But what’s different now is that I’ll do all I can to educate others who are, or were, as ignorant as I was about “black” rifles and the controversy that surrounds them. My promise to you is that I’ll learn all I can about these firearms, and by the time this week is out, I’ll order one. The NUGE has invited me to hunt with him using AR-15’s, and I’m eager to go, and learn. I’ll do all I can to spread the word.

I understand that many of you will not accept this apology, believing that the damage has been done and there’s no way to repair it. You have that right. But let me say this. I mentioned this above, and I’ll repeat it. I’m willing to seize this opportunity to educate hunters and shooters who shared my ignorance. If you’re willing to allow me to do that, we can indeed, in my mind, form a stronger bond within our ranks. Maybe in a roundabout way we can bring something good out of this.

Jim Zumbo "

taken from http://nugeboard.tednugent.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/286904.html

I honestly don't know what to think, but the damage done is big, and that is hard to ignore.

Corporal Joined: Feb 11, 2006 Posts: 702

Its a shame really he makes the statement like that and causes aback lash now remimton is being boycoted now for this, unless they fire him first.

Newbie Joined: Feb 20, 2006 Posts: 11

Go to www.waronguns.blogspot.com and follow this in it's entirety. Only then will you get a grasp of the full impact of this "event." A google search of "Jim Zumbo" should give similar results. It seems that Mr. Zumbo has been dumped by ALL his sponsors (print, broadcast, internet, etc.)

It seems that Remington was among the first to toss him overboard.

Also good reading:

http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2007/02/wag-dog-manifesto.html

http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2007/02/wednesday-morning-zumbo-hangover.html

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:44 pm

i am glad to see the fudd get slaped down hard for this one. i am hoping that more of the hunters will start to see that all gun owners (OK all ones that are politicly involved) should be staanding together.

(not gonna hold my breath tho)