Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Max Blumenthal, you are a liar

Max Blumenthal wrote a piece in the Daily Beast, essentially claiming that all gun owners are a bunch of Racist terrorists. some of the memorable quote here are:

If a new militia movement coalesces, its members will have no shortage of sophisticated assault weapons to choose from. At the gun show in Reno, I witnessed the sale of rocket-propelled-grenade launchers and bazooka guns;


Yet the video you published on Youtube doesn't show a single Bazooka or RPG. Where is the proof? If you witnessed that, why didn't you inform the police or BATFE agents that are present at every gun show? Selling these items without the proper permits is illegal. Unless, of course, it never happened.

He goes on:

Nearby, I interviewed another dealer retailing a brand of.50-caliber assault rifle that was banned in California because it could supposedly down an airplane. He told me by slightly altering the bullets his gun fired, and by converting the gun from semi-automatic to bolt-action, he was able to sell it in California once again.
In other words, the man complied with the law and produced a legal product. If you outlaw all .50 caliber firearms, anyone producing a .49 caliber or .51 caliber rifle would be legal, wouldn't they?

You also completely ignore the fact that a bolt action rifle is not going to shoot down an airplane. Heck, a person wanting to down aircraft might as well fire geese at the plane.

More lies, in the form of the "Mexican gun" myth:

Weapons like these are useful to Mexican narco-cartels, too. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' Phoenix field division claimed that “many gun shows attracted large numbers of gang members from Mexico and California. They often bought large quantities of assault weapons and smuggled them into Mexico or transported them to California.”


(Hey BATFE- where are all of the arrests of these 'gang members' who are smuggling $1,000 semi auto rifles into a country where fully automatic weapons can be bought for half that much?)

Lets reinforce the racism angle, as well:

Though big guns were the main attraction, a handful of retailers in Reno appealed to some visitors’ apparent enthusiasm for Nazi memorabilia. Swastika-emblazoned flags, photographs of Hitler and his henchmen, and anything related to the Third Reich were available at several booths. There was obviously no way to gauge the percentage of show attendees who adhered to the racist fringe, but the prominence of so much Nazi regalia suggested they maintained a significant presence.
You , Mr Blumenthal, are a liar.

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