I peered up from the book I was reading yesterday and saw
Wayne LaPierre’s face on the tube, and angrily grabbed the remote and shut TV
off. Having worked in a broadcast
newsroom for nearly all my adult life, I always have CNN on in the background,
very low volume, just as newsrooms always have the police scanner volume up
24/7. News can break at any time.
Scanner traffic and all-news 24/7 cable
channels become part of your environment in this biz.
I thought about my initial reaction of anger at seeing
LaPierre on the tube. I am as tired of
his “more-guns-more-guns-more-guns” rants as I am of the media constantly
plastering his face on TV and broadcasting his rants. The man is on every network every day!
A few hours later, on the local TV nooz, a reporterette was
interviewing some local law enforcement guy who was saying they’re concerned
about a possible shortage of bullets, and how they might have to cut back on
their training activities if they can’t get enough bullets.
Then it clicked for me.
LaPierre is a genius.
An evil genius to be sure, but a genius nonetheless. He has kept the cycle of fear and paranoia alive
since December 14th last year – well over three months since the
mass murders at Sandy Hook. Whatever the
gun and ammo manufacturers are paying him can’t possibly be enough.
He has, pretty much singlehandedly, created the biggest
business boom in history for gun and ammo manufacturers, and the boom is
showing no signs of slowing down. He has engendered a bull market in the
firearms industry the likes of which has never been seen, and every nooz story
that airs telling of possible bullet shortages and empty shelves and racks at
the gun store drives the boom another notch higher.
Every time LaPierre opens his mouth some TV camera records
it. This is a fairly recent phenomenon
in the nooz biz, this rush to “balance” every gun-control advocate (or, name
any issue or cause under the sun) with someone who has a different
viewpoint. Every time somebody like Joe
Biden says “gun control”, something from Wayne LaPierre must be run alongside
it to “balance” the story.
And please, don’t get me started on the concept of “false
equivalency”.
But, you know what?
Of all the gun groups out there (and there are more than you might
think) Wayne LaPierre is the least extreme national spokesman! Spend a few
moments reading the stuff that Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America has put
out, and you’ll come away thinking LaPierre is a moderate.
By whipping up the fear that Barack Obama’s Secret Muslim
Army is going to come in black helicopters to take your guns away, LaPierre
gins up more and more business for the gun and ammo dealers. By constantly
repeating his message of fear to “balance” their gun control stories, the media
helps spread LaPierre’s paranoia.
Shortage of bullets? “The
Government” is buying up all of them so you can’t get them. Just ask LaPierre
or any one of hundreds of right-wing bloggers.
Shortage of assault weapons?
Manufacturers can’t crank them out fast enough to meet the demand of
those who STILL don’t own one, but know in their heart of hearts that if they
don’t get one now, THE GOVERNMENT will soon shut down production and then they’ll
have to pay an arm and a leg to get one on the black market.
Hitler’s first move was to disarm the populace? The gun guys love saying that, but it’s
complete BS. The only people Hitler took
guns from were the Jews. The average German household under Hitler was awash in
firearms, many of them brought home after World War One.
The combination of crackpots like LaPierre, the media echo
chamber, and native stupidity combined with ignorance of history and topped off
by an inept congress have made gun and ammo manufacturers modern-day robber
barons.
Yes, I own firearms. Yes, I’ve gone deer hunting with a
high-powered rifle.
No, I don’t have an AR-15 and no, I don’t own any
high-capacity clips.
I don’t need them, nor do you.
