Jim Zumbo: Letter to Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

February 28, 2007


Mr. Alan Gottlieb, Chairman
Citizens Committee for the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
12500 N.E. Tenth Place
Bellevue, WA 98005

Dear Alan:

They say that hindsight is always 20-20. In my case, hindsight has been a hard teacher, like the father teaching the son a lesson about life in the wood shed.

I was wrong when I recently suggested that wildlife agencies should ban semiautomatic firearms I erroneously called “assault rifles” for hunting. I insulted legions of my fellow gun owners in the process by calling them “terrorist rifles.” I can never apologize enough for having worn blinders when I should have been wearing bifocals.

But unlike those who would destroy the Second Amendment right to own a firearm – any firearm – I have learned from my embarrassing mistake. My error should not be used, as it has been in recent days by our common enemies, in an effort to dangerously erode our right to keep and bear arms.

I would hope instead to use this spotlight to address my hunting fraternity, many of whom shared my erroneous position. I am a hunter and like many others I had the wrong picture in mind. I associated these firearms with military action, and saw not hunting as I have known it, not the killing of a varmint, but the elimination of the entire colony. Nothing could be further from the truth, but I know from whence it comes. This ridiculous image, formed in the blink of an eye, exerts and unconscious effect on all decisions that follow. In seeking to protect our hunting rights by guarding how we are seen in the public eye, I lost sight of the larger picture; missed the forest for the trees.

My own lack of experience was no excuse for ignoring the fact that millions of Americans – people who would share a campfire or the shelter of their tent, and who have hurt nobody – own, hunt with and competitively shoot or collect the kinds of firearms I so easily dismissed.

I recently took a “crash course” on these firearms with Ted Nugent, to learn more about them and to educate myself. In the process, I learned about the very real threat that faces all American gun owners.

I’ve studied up on legislation now in Congress that would renew and dangerously expand a ban on many types of firearms. The bill, HR 1022 sponsored by New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, is written so broadly that it would outlaw numerous firearms and accessories, including a folding stock for a Ruger rifle. I understand that some of the language could ultimately take away my timeworn and cherished hunting rifles and shotguns as well as those of all American hunters.

The extremist supporters of HR 1022 don’t want to stop criminals. They want to invent new ones out of people like you and me with the simple stroke of a pen. They will do anything they can to make it impossible for more and more American citizens to legally own any firearm.

Realizing that what I wrote catered to this insidious attack on fellow gun owners has, one might say, “awakened a sleeping giant within me, and filled him with a terrible resolve.”

I made a mistake. But those who would use my remarks to further their despicable political agenda have made a bigger one. I hope to become their worst nightmare. I admit I was wrong. They insist they are right.

Enclosed, you will find a check that is intended to be used to fight and defeat HR 1022. I also hope it inspires other gun owners to “do as I do, not as I say.”

I’m putting my money where my mouth should have been, and where my heart and soul have always been. I know the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting and never has been. My blunder was in thinking that by working to protect precious hunting rights I was doing enough. I promise it will never happen again.

I don’t know what lies over the horizon for me. I am not ready for the rocking chair.

I’m going to devote every ounce of my energy to this battle. I will remind my fellow hunters that we are first, gun owners. Whether we like it or not, our former apathy and prejudices may place that which we love, hunting, in jeopardy. I will educate fellow outdoorsmen who mistakenly think like I talked, even if I have to visit every hunting camp and climb into every duck blind and deer stand in this country to get it done. I was wrong, and I’m going to make it right.


Sincerely,
Jim Zumbo



We at OHPA send a heartfelt thank you to Jim Zumbo.

The Sleeping Beast

Over the past several days we got a glimpse at a sleeping beast. Jim Zumbo, the professional hunter, awakened the beast last weekend with his comments about assault weapons (or "terrorist weapons" as he put it) and their place, or lack thereof, in the hunting environment.

Within hours, Mr. Zumbo's blog was inundated with thousands of comments, the majority of which blasted his ill-conceived position. His sponsors were not spared, with thousands of comments, e-mails, and phone calls threatening canceled subscriptions and boycotts. A hasty apology was issued, but was quickly criticized as insincere and incomplete. Over the next few days, sponsors had severed ties (or were looking for outs), his blog was shut down, and some are wondering about the future of his TV show.

Without question, the criticism was founded, but a lot of it was unnecessarily venomous. That aside, it showed what motivated gun owners and hunters could accomplish when the beast was awakened. They attacked and made their feelings known.

What I want to know is: why is the beast not growling as loudly at those who really want to take away gun and hunting rights? Sure there are people who do a lot in the way of contacting their representatives and the like, but I'd wager that reactions like we saw with the Zumbo incident are few and far between.

Look at a lot of the legislation on the table right now. The Federal assault weapons ban is being reconsidered. New Jersey is considering the one gun a month idea. Maryland is considering an assault weapons ban. The list goes on. It seems that there are critical issues on the table in so many states and in Congress. Are we making waves at the same volume as we did last weekend? I'm not sure we are.

We need the beast to start growling louder. If you don't belong to the NRA, join now. If you can spare the money, sign up a friend, family member, or total stranger. If you can't afford to join yourself, suck up your pride and try and find someone who is willing to sponsor you. If you own guns, are thinking of owning guns, or even don't own any but still support the right, then please, join the NRA today. On top of that, send letters or e-mails and make phone calls to all your state and federal legislators and put them on notice: either they support the Second Amendment or we find someone else who does. It's time to show that our bark and our bite are equally powerful.

Common Sense Mom!

Excellent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. We should shoot them a note thanking them for a RARE common sense gun story.

Kids and guns: Teach, don't avoid
By Dana Loesch
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
Monday, Feb. 19 2007

The boys and I used to participate in a play group that included several
mothers who were not only against guns, they were against toy guns.

We left the play group after one member publicly chastised me when Liam
brandished a small, neon-orange, empty water pistol and pretended to be a
police officer. They were shocked that I would allow my child to play with such
a “dangerous toy.”

I acknowledged their concern; the percentage of toy gun-related deaths was,
after all, on the rise.

I don’t see a problem with children playing with toy guns. I would have a huge
problem if they were, say, playing with a toy joint.

I have two sons; they are obsessed with swords, light sabers, firearms,
explosives, fire. We never forced it on them; they exhibited an interest on
their own, though I’m sure they absorbed a bit of it by watching Chris and I
shriek with glee whenever one of us blows up something on Independence Day.

My boys will turn anything, including a tampon from their mother’s purse as she
loads groceries onto the conveyor, into a mock firearm.

This isn’t to say that they are uneducated regarding firearms; Liam knows the
difference between automatic and semi-automatic weapons; shotguns; handguns,
etc. He knows to find and tell an adult immediately should he ever happen upon
a firearm. He is fully aware that you can’t “un-shoot” someone. In short, we’ve
approached the issue responsibly.

I have a friend who likes to assign human qualities to firearms. “Guns kill
people,” she says whenever given the chance. I’ve said this before, but in my
28 years on this earth I have never witnessed a gun get up and shoot someone
all by itself.

If I did I would capture it and find a way to make money off of it. I have,
however, heard of people who use guns to shoot other people and who will use
other weapons to harm people if a firearm isn’t available. I think it’s
dangerous to take the responsibility from the person and assign it to an
inanimate object.

It undermines gun safety and education. If that theory is allowed, I want to
blame the last speeding ticket I got on my minivan.

My friend believes that the only gun education needed is to tell her daughter
that “guns are bad.” Those who do not own or even like guns can still die from
them as a result. I cannot figure out why my friend, or the mothers at the play
group for that matter, want to pretend that guns don’t exist and that their
children will never be confronted with the issue.

Both Chris and I grew up in families of hunters; my grandfather had a full gun
rack in his pickup. Gun safety was drilled into our heads at very young ages
and it was incomprehensible to play with one.

My friend doesn’t like the thought of her child playing at the homes of friends
who own firearms. My response has always been to inquire about the presence of
firearms first, then ask as to how they are secured from curious youngsters. It’
s our job as parents to be responsible and cautious, not paranoid. I feel that
the latter is irrational.

We own a firearm. It stays locked in a safe. Our families keep their firearms
locked in safes and gun cabinets. Our kids know that it’s irresponsible to
leave a gun lying around the house. Whether or not you own a gun and keep it in
your home, it’s dangerous to avoid the issue. The only thing the avoidance does
is to increase your child’s risk to become a statistic.

Just as dangerous as avoiding the issue is the irresponsible parent who keeps
an unsecured firearm in their home. Those are the parents who stand to lose a
child – or risk the life of another -- from a gun shot wound. Those are the
cases we hear about on television.

What matters most is how and what kids are taught about firearms. I’ve always
believed that pretend play is a great exercise for reality. Positive messages
can be introduced and reinforced through play.

When my kids play with their toy guns, they are the cops chasing the bad guys,
they are soldiers in a war, they are hunting, and they play with their toy in a
responsible manner. In their play, just as it should be in real life, guns are
leverage to their power for good. They’re taught the difference between reality
and play and have developed a healthy respect for the difference.

My friend has asserted that toy guns “encourage violent tendencies.” There is a
way to teach about violence without engaging in it.

I never forget: Whatever my children don’t learn first in my home they will
learn out in the world. I want to give them an advantage.

Let them know how you feel!

Main Phone Number: (314) 340-8000

POST-DISPATCH AND STLTODAY ADDRESS
900 N. Tucker Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63101

E-mail the editor
cbertelson@post-dispatch.com

Apology From Jim Zumbo

I was wrong, BIG TIME

Someone once said that to err is human. I just erred, and made without question, the biggest blunder in my 42 years of writing hunting articles.

My blog inflamed legions of people I love most..... hunters and shooters. Obviously, when I wrote that blog, I activated my mouth before engaging my brain.

Let me explain the circumstances surrounding that blog. I was hunting coyotes, and after the hunt was over and being beat up by 60 mph winds all day, I was discussing hunting with one of the young guides. I was tired and exhausted, and I should have gone to bed early. When the guide told me that there was a "huge" following of hunters who use AR 15's and similar weapons to hunt prairies dogs, I was amazed. At that point I wrote the blog, and never thought it through.

Now then, you might not believe what I have to say, but I hope you do. How is it that Zumbo, who has been hunting for more than 50 years, is totally ignorant about these types of guns. I don't know. I shot one once at a target last year, and thought it was cool, but I never considered using one for hunting. I had absolutely no idea how vast the numbers of folks are who use them.

I never intended to be devisive, and I certainly believe in United we Stand, Divided we Fall. I've been an NRA member for 40 years, have attended 8 national NRA conventions in the last 10 years, and I'm an advisory board member for the United States Sportsmen's Alliance which actively fights anti-hunters and animal rights groups for hunter's rights.

What really bothers me are some of the unpatriotic comments leveled at me. I fly the flag 365 days a year in my front yard. Last year, through an essay contest, I hosted a soldier wounded in Iraq to a free hunt in Botswana. This year, through another essay contest, I'm taking two more soldiers on a free moose and elk hunt.

When I started blogging, I was told to write my thoughts, expressing my own opinion. The offensive blog I wrote was MY opinion, and no one else's. None of the companies that I deal with share that opinion, nor were they aware of what I had written until this firestorm started.

Believe it or not, I'm your best friend if you're a hunter or shooter, though it might not seem that way. I simply screwed up. And, to show that I'm sincere about this, I just talked to Ted Nugent, who everyone knows, and is a Board member of the NRA. Ted is extremely active with charities concerning our wounded military, and though he's known as a bowhunter, Ted has no problem with AR 15's and similar firearms. My sincerity stems from the fact that Ted and I are planning a hunt using AR 15's. I intend to learn all I can about them, and again, I'm sorry for inserting my foot in my mouth.


Mr Zumbo, It is a great thing that you made an apology and admitted your lack of knowledge and experience with these arms, Now take the time to take the lead in righting this wrong.

Friendly Fire incident; What HSUS and Brady Relish

Well folks, we started this blog to shore up the positive. Now we have a huge negative to overcome. Sadly, this comes right from the mouth of one of our most prolific writers and TV personalities: Jim Zumbo.

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.



In this article, as you can see he calls AR and AK rifles "terrorist weapons" and that "they have no place in our hunting fraternity". He also states that "Game Departments should ban them from the prairies and woods" and that we should "Divorce Ourselves from them ".

What Mr. Zumbo fails to understand is that functionally these weapons are no different than any other .223 or .308 caliber firearm. He also fails to grasp the concept that the anti- gun community has settled for an incremental agenda and once one type of firearm is banned others will follow. Once they get an inroad via so called "assault weapons" they will come after ALL the semi- automatic rifles. The anti's have the general public believing that these weapons function differently, have a longer range, and have more power than "sporting firearms". This could not be further from the truth, a .223 is a .223 weather it is fired from a single shot rife or a semi-automatic rifle.

Mr. Zumbo also fails to remember his history. The 30-06 rifle cartridge was developed for the military. He also forgets that 30 Caliber ammunition has been used by the US Military for nearly 70 years.

By calling these weapons "terrrorist weapons" he also slaps all the Military, competitive shooters and plinkers in the face and labels them terrorists. With this article, written by a well respected author, he has done more damage to the shooting sports than 10 years of Anti- Gun propaganda. I encourage you all to realize that banning one will lead to the ban on all.

Weather you agree with Mr. Zumbo or not is irrelavent. What is relavent is that once the anti's get a foothold there will be a domino effect and then your "sporting arms" are in danger.The anti's know exactly what they are doing and exactly how to spread disinformation to further their agenda. Write often, write intelligently and firmly to Mr. Zumbo and his sponsors and express your displeasure. I fear the damage has already been done.

STAND UNITED for ALL Sportsmen, even if its not "your way".