Alphecca

Weekly Check on the Bias

Hey, it's the start of Summer! And while most of you are thinking about or leaving on vacations -- boating, fishing, swimming -- we at Alphecca remain glued to our computer screens, spanning the world for media bias against guns and the Second Amendment. That's an "editorial we" unless you count my cats, and their spelling is even worse than mine.

Most of my story links come from the Yahoo Gun Control Debate page or from Keep And Bear Arms.

Pssst! Wanna buy a gun company?

That's what the victim of an accident involving a gun made by Bryco Arms wants to do. From the LA Times:

The only bid so far is from Bryco's former plant manager, who intends to revive the dormant business. He has offered $150,000 for what's left of the company — one of the last in a group of Southern California firms that once stamped out millions of inexpensive guns known as Saturday night specials.

But a last-minute bid may come from an unlikely source: the legal team representing Brandon Maxfield, a Mendocino County teenager who was left a quadriplegic after being accidentally shot with a Bryco pistol a decade ago.

Bryco is in bankruptcy after losing a civil liability suit filed by Maxfield. I wrote about the case last year but to re-cap: Brandon's parents apparently left a pistol lying around the house and either the babysitter or Brandon himself found it. The babysitter tried to unload the gun, the trigger was pulled, and Brandon was severely injured. The parents and babysitter were found partially liable and Bryco Arms and their distributor were also found liable -- to the tune of $24 million dollars.

I'm not going to rehash the case except to point out that the gun did not malfunction. The parents should never have left a loaded firearm laying about. The babysitter -- if not familiar with the gun -- should have stashed it somewhere safe rather than trying to operate it. And if the babysitter WAS familiar with the firearm, he should have known the first rule of safe gun operation is to know where the gun is pointed when doing anything with it.

In all fairness, if you read the entire story, it's obvious that the LA Times is trying to be fair by pointing out both sides of the story (which mostly concerns the attempt to bid for the company's assets):

"Yes, there was a boy hurt and it's a sorry situation and the process is working its way through … the courts," said Ned Nashban, an attorney for Bryco founder Bruce Jennings. But "Ruggieri [Maxfield's attorney] is running amok…. He's looking to make a name for himself in the antigun industry."

Maxfield was 7 in 1994 when he was shot by a baby sitter who was trying to unload the .38-caliber weapon. Because of the gun's design, the sitter had to turn off the safety to do so.

I should point out that on many pistols, not just cheap (actually, "crappy" comes to mind -- I've seen some at recent gun shows) ones such as the Bryco P-38 .380, you must put the gun "off safety" to pull the slide back to get at the chambered cartridge. I'm not saying that that is a good thing, that's just the way it is. Heck, many handguns (think "most revolvers") don't HAVE a safety at all. It all falls back on following safe firearm rules, pretty much the same as safe operation of an automobile.

USA Today took a slightly more biased approach to the story:

Family and friends of 17-year-old Brandon Maxfield said they will bid on the assets of gun manufacturer Bruce Jennings -- who specializes in inexpensive pistols called ''Saturday night specials'' -- and plan to close Jennings' business for good if their bid wins.

''It wouldn't be used to make guns; Brandon has no interest in 'blood money,' '' said his attorney, Richard Ruggieri of San Rafael, Calif. ''The critical issue . . . is (preventing) the business from just being flipped over and continuing. That's what we're really in it for.''

I'm not going to defend cheap guns but sometimes that's all someone can afford and if that's what it takes to give them peace-of-mind in a crime-filled world, so be it.

The Guardian (UK) showed their opinion of the case. Here's some quotes:

Last year a jury awarded him $51m (£27.8m) damages, of which the gun manufacturer was made liable for $23m.

The following day Bryco Arms filed for bankruptcy. But the Maxfields' lawyers became suspicious when a $150,000 bid to buy the company was made by a former plant foreman.

At the same time as Bruce Jennings, the owner of Bryco, declared that he planned to retire from the business, his wife applied for a firearms sales licence...
...
...Bryco was found liable on the grounds that the faulty design of its gun, the P-38 semi-automatic, was partly to blame for the incident.

The Guardian blithely declares the gun was defective. By the way, how's the crime rate in England these days?

Incidentally, if a "cheap" gun is defective because of the safety/unloading issue, does that mean that "expensive" guns (many 1911's) are also defective?

Turning to an editorial... er, news story I mentioned last week:

In a direct challenge to federal limits on political advocacy, the National Rifle Association plans to begin broadcasting a daily radio program on Thursday to provide news and pro-gun commentary to 400,000 listeners. --New York Times

In a direct challenge to federal limits on political advocacy, the New York Times Co. plans to continue publishing a daily newspaper to provide news and antigun commentary to 1.1 million readers. --Best of the Web

Damn, Taranto is good. Here's another quote from the NY Times story:

The N.R.A. says its three-hour program constitutes news and commentary, not advertising. As a result, when other advocacy groups are required to stop running political commercials, "NRANews" intends to continue broadcasting its reporting and commentary against politicians who favor gun control to Nov. 2.

If you read the whole piece, notice how the writer, James Dao, continually puts the show's title in quotes instead of italics as would normally be standard journalism. Interesting... I guess they're using the Reuters Manual of Style now. And instead of seeking commentary on the subject by a constitutional scholar, Dao finds:

"I think they are really just trying to show the Republicans that they are going to be able to do something at election time," said Robert A. Ricker, a former lobbyist for the gun industry who is a consultant to a gun-control group, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "It's a lot of hype, but I don't think there will be substantial content."

I guess time will tell. The Guardian chimed in, too:

American talk radio tends to veer to the right of the political spectrum, but a new station launched this week eliminates the last trace of ambiguity on the matter.

It is owned and operated by the National Rifle Association, the loudest voice lobbying on behalf of the nation's estimated 80 million gun owners.

NRA News, which began broadcasting a fiercely partisan schedule of firearms-related coverage on Thursday afternoon, has been condemned as an attempt to circumvent new US laws curbing political campaigning.

The legislation severely limits special interest groups' ability to buy advertising to argue on behalf of a particular candidate. But the NRA says the radio station makes it a media organisation, so its broadcasts are journalism - not adverts.

Well. Well! The fact is, if they are broadcasting news about politicians and their views about gun control, that is journalism. Is anyone accusing Air America, a radio network formed by a group of fiercely partisan liberal Democrats, of simply broadcasting advertisements for the Democratic Party and candidates? Well, yes, but loop-holes are loop-holes and they work for everyone. Then, after quoting Wayne LaPierre, the writer, Oliver Burkeman, huffs:

Some listeners might have queried this interpretation of what followed: a vigorous condemnation of the Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry, and an interview with a college student who had received a C grade for writing a pro-gun essay in a philosophy class.

It's called commentary, Burkeman! That's what radio talk-shows DO. That's what The Guardian (and the New York Times) do, even in your supposed "news" stories.

In other news, The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a dire warning:

Is that a dozen handguns under your coat or are you just happy to see the loophole in Ohio's concealed-carry law?

The state's new law, which allows permit-holding citizens to carry a hidden handgun, doesn't say you can't have more than one.

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's office confirmed what will no doubt worry almost everyone: Nowhere in the legislation's 99 pages is there any language limiting the amount of heat a citizen can pack.

Two guns, four guns, six guns, a dozen all legal. Really, the only thing limiting the number of guns you can carry is how many you can carry, physically, until you topple over from the weight of the lead.

This is not identified as an editorial or op-ed. It's simply a "news story" by John Campanelli, identified as a "Plain Dealer Reporter." Well, I don't know that almost everyone -- no doubt -- is as worried as the writer, but is this really a concern? Most cops carry a "back-up" but I really don't think the average person does. Remember, the law is for the law-abiding, whom presumably are not planning any sustained siege. The whole thing just drips of anti-gun and anti-concealed carry bias.

But who am I to say...

Here's what some pro-2A bloggers are saying:

Kevin at The Smallest Minority has another fisk. This one targets an editorial from This Is London, where, you know, the subjects aren't allowed to defend themselves.

Les Jones has his Weekly Gun Links up. Always a good starting point.

New Daddy Say Uncle has some others.

Heartless Libertarian is critical of a new bill that would allow off-duty or retired cops to carry anywhere in the country. I agree, why is it all right for thee but not for we?

Publicola royally fisks a news story. The story turns a tragic event into an anti "assaut weapon" screed.

Wince and Nod strips his Makarov.

James at Hell in a Handbasket has another reason for concealed-carry. He's got thoughts on non-lethal weapons, too.

Backroad Blog is looking for M9 magazines.

Well, I guess I better stop now and get this thing posted. My thanks to all of you for stopping by.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at June 21, 2004 08:43 AM