Hunting Magazine Contributor Fired for Anti-Gun Blog Post

I wasn't planning to comment on this, but it's kind of relevant now thanks to Nick and I talking in the comments about the Utah Mall shooting being a "No Guns" zone. It helps to reiterate that someone either supports gun control or doesn't. Not much gray area in there.

Anyway, here's the scoop:

Last Friday, Jim Zumbo, a writer for Outdoor Life Magazine, posted an anti-gun article on his blog saying that he is OK with "assault weapons" being banned because they have nothing to do with hunting. He basically calls anyone that owns such a rifle a terrorist. Now, it's true that there are a small number of hunters out there that feel that way, but I was still surprised to see someone stupid enough to actually print it, considering where he works.

He has since removed his blog post, but I found it and can host part of it here for eternity:

Assault Rifles For Hunters?

As I write this, I'm hunting coyotes in southeastern Wyoming with Eddie Stevenson, PR Manager for Remington Arms, Greg Dennison, who is senior research engineer for Remington, and several writers. We're testing Remington's brand new .17 cal Spitfire bullet on coyotes.

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.

I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers."

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."

This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.

The Brady Campaign quickly picked it up, placed it on their website, and commended Mr. Zumbo for agreeing with them. Now, if that doesn't ruin a firearm reviewer's career, I don't know what will. :)

Not surprisingly, there was an enormous and immediate backlash in the firearms community. Remington (one of the largest American firearms manufacturer) pulled their long-time sponsorship:

Madison, North Carolina – 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...

Here's Outdoor Life's official statement:

In light of comments made by Jim Zumbo in his February 16, 2007 blog posting on the magazine’s website, Mr. Zumbo has offered to terminate his association with Outdoor Life, and the magazine has accepted his offer. Accordingly, he will no longer be contributing to the magazine in print or online. His final column with Outdoor Life will appear in the April 2007 issue, which has already gone to press.

We respect Mr. Zumbo's First Amendment right to free speech, and we acknowledge his subsequent apology and admission of error. However, Outdoor Life has always been, and will always be, a steadfast supporter of all aspects of the shooting sports and our Second Amendment rights, which do not make distinctions based on the appearance of the firearms we choose to own, shoot or hunt with.

We regret this turn of events, as Mr. Zumbo has been a good friend to this magazine and lifelong advocate for hunters and hunting rights.

We appreciate the comments we've received from our loyal readers about this matter and encourage them to continue to correspond with us. Please direct any additional comments to OLletters@time4.com.

And just for closure, here's a very, very recent comment from Mr. Zumbo that he put on Ted Nugent's blog:

...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?

I guess I don't really have much of a point, I just found it interesting and thought it would let you guys see that the vast majority of firearm owners stick together, no matter if someone is a hunter, target shooter, or enjoys plinking with semi-auto black rifles.