Jim Zumbo's anti-gun blog

[rattus58]

These are my two cents worth...

To make a statement like that, has to come from inside. This was not a thought out statement, that is why it is so attendant upon us to rid ourselves of those who harbor such bias, especially in public forum.

We all make mistakes. Apologizing is the right thing to do. I forgive Jim Zumbo his transgression. I don't hold grudges. But I have been involved in the hunting community working to protect our hunting and gun rights since 1993. In a sense, JZ is now a sacrificial lamb, but it had to be done. If you don't think shumer, Pelosi, Reed, Kerry aren't going to push for assault weapons ban and other gun control issues as hard as they can now they are in power, its important to remember that we must take anything and everything seriously.

To have JZ, the NOTED writer come out with such passion against a god given gun right without thought is serious stuff. It says what he is and who he is... this was not just a mistake, this is evident of his core belief, and I for one want no part of it..regardless that he is a gentleman.

There are somethings that one issue can take my vote... guns is one of them.

So though I agree with some that he probably had no malice, although he was pretty passionate about it.. I'm giving him a BIG benefit of the doubt here, but to so blithely dismiss a gun right, to so blithely remark that they are terrorist guns, and to so blithely state that they had no business in any hunting environment tells me a little something about him that is appalling, at the least, worrisome at best. I am a conspiracy theorist.

So being a conspiracy theorist that I am, a short coming I'm sure, you deal with cancers and gangrenous the same way... you cut it out, you cut if off.

He also has some aplologists working out there for him now too. MSNBC has an article about how he got seared by the gun owners. Some author, George Wray, I think it was, says this is how we are taught to deal with the infidels by the NRA! Wrong!

The response to Zumbo wasn't crafted. It was a very visceral thing, in response to an also very rooted rationality and judgement of fellow shooters by Zumbo.

Look closely at what he said gentlemen... look at his reply. The statement was from the heart alright, the reply was quite thought out. And he harbors no grudges .... gee whiz... Zumbo... that is awfully decent of you.. I don't hold a grudge against you either... But I don't want you back. I don't want you near my children nor especially my grandchildren. You sir... are a pervert of another kind.

First Amendment. Yes. But the First Amendment leaves you opportunity for consequence doesn't it. It gives our enemies the means to take the now written words of others and cast them against us. Zumbo did not say he felt that AR-15's, semi-automatic rifles had no place in HIS gun closet... he said that they had no place, essentially, in the hands of ANY law abiding citizen, for these were TERRORIST guns.

Don't lose sight. Zumbo's remarks are a plague. Treat them as such.


Aloha...

[fabsroman]

Like I said, I won't be supporting Zumbo or Leatherman any time soon. I am seriously debating a donation to the NRA too, but my wife might kill me with all the money I recently spent. Simply put, unless war and crime end tomorrow, there will always be a need for firearms. I think this was previously mentioned in this thread or elsewhere on this board. We have to remember that the 2nd amendment is war/protection of the US driven. It is not hunting driven. So, what better weapons to establish a militia with than AR-15 and AR-10's. Some BMG-50's would be nice too. Heck, a couple of SAW's wouldn't be bad either. If not during my lifetime, I am pretty sure the US will be in a really heated war some time in the next century. I am betting it will be against China once China needs more resources, but who knows. The crazy thing is that this next war might even be partially fought on American soil.

People, Democrats specifically, do not realize that war is inevitable, just as crime and greed, and I think the former two are furthered by the latter.

[Andy L]

Fabs, I thought you were joking. Now you just plain ass make me sick. If Hillary promises, you would be for handing over all guns.

Your not one of us. Your weak.


I have nothing further to say, but I used to give your posts alot of weight. They just got alot lighter, FWIW.

[Aim to maim]

Originally posted by Andy L
Fabs, I thought you were joking. Now you just plain ass make me sick. If Hillary promises, you would be for handing over all guns.

Your not one of us. Your weak.


I have nothing further to say, but I used to give your posts alot of weight. They just got alot lighter, FWIW.

Andy,

I respectfully recommend that you slowly and carefully re-read Mr. Roman's posts while at the same time keeping in mind the definitions of "hypothetically speaking" and "sarcasm".

[fabsroman]

Andy,

That is fine with me. I don't need you to be a fan of mine, and have bumped heads with you on several other issues too. If you think I am weak, that is your opinion.

By the way, if we want to split hairs, it is "You're weak" and not "Your weak." That is one of my pet peeves on these boards, but I try to ignore it as much as possible. Funny thing is that I mentioned it last night on a cycling chat board after some grammar police were giving a guy a hard time about using the word bars where bar was appropriate.

If you cannot understand my point, then you either are not taking the time to read thoroughly, your reading comprehension is terrible, or you just cannot understand what I am trying to say. However, if I'm weak according to your standards, then I can fling poo too and call you an idiot, maybe even a moron, by my standards. That is another word I see used incorrectly way too many times on boards. People continue to use moreon.

Fling away my man, because I can fling back too.

[scalerman]

Fabs please continue to share your opinions with us here. As a matter of fact everybody please continue to share your opinions here. There are alot of people in my country and yours who died so that we could express our opinions freely.

Mr. Zumbo is learning a lesson that we should all take to heart. Along with every right there goes an equal (if not more weighty) responsibility to exercise that right in an appropriate manner. He has the right to that opinion, however he must, and is, take responsibility for expressing it.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

[skeeter@ccia.com]

If Hillary gets elected, we might all have a problem here and will be on the same page for sure. Fabs, I would have to say telling anyone (other than hunting buddies) about your brother owning an AR-15 was not a good idea. You just never know who is listening. Out of sight, out of mind.
As far as getting dusted here on HC, pick yourself up and dust yorself off.... Seems like everyone gets a turn in the barrell now and then. Once I had a relative on the wife's side thank me for taking some of the pressure off him. Said at least he isn't the only black sheep in the family. I just said YW. Tks to you. Seems some only see what they look for in a person. If they think you post sarcastic remarks, this is what they will see and take what you say in that order. We know we all here on HC stand behind the same door when it comes to the second and are all tired of the Brady bunch, Zumbo, Hillary, Kennedy bunches but can have a voice through the NRA. Now a membership there as a gift to your brother would be nice. Might get him started. Worked for me in the past. They all still belong.
I am on the board of a local sportsmens club that has over 600 senior members plus their wives along with about a hundred or so jr members and know it is hard to please everyone all the time. I have found out though the ones with the biggest mouth, the ones that refuse to follow the rules and are never happy with the way things go esp when not their way are also the ones that never show up at meetings or lend a hand doing anything constructive for the place. I just remind them they don't have to belong if it is that big a PIA to them. I love reading HC posts. We here sure can cover lots of topics, get many diff opinions and then can sort it all out in the end. As for me, going ice fishing in the morning, make a shore lunch for the bunch then sight in my 7mag I just put a scope on. Getting ready for my spring bear hunt in NB Canada with the son-in-law. One for lil Red....yeeee ha..

[Dom]

Ya know, the vast majority of folks here on HC are much more than the average outdoorsman, hunter, shooter, etc. You see how hard it is even for this specific interest group to all be on the same sheet of music.

I see it exactly the same way when it comes to supporting the NRA. I'm not a spokesman or nothin' else for that matter, but look at it this way. Zumbo took a hard fall because he didn't have no need for the AR's, etc. Hey, I don't shoot a straight bow, so if there's some law comes along to ban them, no sweat off my back. Come to think of it, same for the ARs, Knight MZ, or A5. Big deal, I don't use or need them?

All I'm trying to say is let's show a little more uniformity and not be so critical if someone has a slightly different view. I know this is an emotional issue for a lot of us, take five.

P.S. Skeeter, Waidmannsheil on your Spring Bear Hunt!! Sounds like a plan.

[fabsroman]

Skeeter,

I guess I just do not worry too much about owning an AR or letting people know that I plan on buying two, so I don't worry if people know that my brother owns one. At the end of the day, even if a law gets passed where AR's are illegal in MD, there will be a grandfather clause whereby you are required to register them with the Department of Public Safety, so the state will know who owns them. I think it is terrible, but if I happen to own a couple by that time I will be sure to register them. For most people, not registering them and getting caught with them would result in a slap on the wrist and the confiscation of the rifle(s). For me, I would be in a whole different world of hurt. I would have to report the guilty verdict to the Board of Accountancy and the Maryland & DC bars, and then I would probably have to go through a review before they renew my licenses to practice accountancy and law. You should have seen what I had to go through before taking the bar exam because I paid a fine for hunting migratory birds over bait, which if I had known better at the time, I could have just gone to Court, asked for probation before judgment, and avoided the entire guilty finding. What a mess.

If this bill gets passed, the big thing will be getting caught committing a crime with one of these "assault weapons" because there is a mandatory 5 year sentence. Honestly, I think that is the only part of the law that makes any sense. People should be able to own any gun they want, but if they commit a crime with one, there should be stiff sentences, and I mean for all guns.

[Skyline]

What is clearly being demonstrated here in the posts, is the reason the anti-firearms groups are winning the battle. Slowly but surely they are cornering the firearms groups by using a shotgun approach. They are banking on the fact that people will splinter and try to save their own ass.......or interest group.

Lead bans, international small arms initiatives, domestic ammunition restrictions, assault weapons, terrorist weapons, Saturday night specials, sniper rifles...............one well thought out and very negative cliche after another, national and international bills, symposiums and agreements. Make no mistake, they are winning the war.

Now I know there are a bunch of you rearing up and getting ready to say, hah!!!.......you are from Canada and look what you bunch of wimps let your government ram down your throats. The fact is our firearms communities lobbied long and hard, but it did not save us. Firearms owners here continue to fight and we have made some small gains, but they are the gains that in the great scheme of things are kinda like throwing the dog a bone. It makes us feel good, but really isn't any kind of decisive victory and the overall picture is still a slow downward spiral into the anti-firearms pit.

Remember first that we did not have the 2nd Ammendment to wave like a flag, that RIGHT is not enshrined here, nor is it in most countries in the world. That alone will not save you now and from a foreignors perspective it has allowed most of your shooting population to lull itself into complacency, feeling safe in the knowledge that the right is enshrined in your constitution.

Complacency is why only a very small percentage of the US shooting population actually belongs to the NRA.......believe me I am not picking on you, it is the same everywhere. We are all being systematically chipped away at and they are winning. Slowly but surely.

Unfortunately the campaign for small-arms control and disarmament is a global one. They are attacking from all sides and they are relatively sure of victory in the long haul because the population base keeps growing and is predominantly urban and the firearms users are steadily becoming a smaller and smaller percentage of the overall population.

Jim Zumbo's recent comments, which have been flogged to death, should be a wake up call for all shooters and hunters. When an internationally recognized hunting/firearms writer, who grew up with the 2nd Ammendment rights, could actually make those comments on the internet, we are collectively in serious trouble. It is an indication of where the fight is at and it ain't pretty..........

[Lilred]

First off...they took the original article off of outdoor life website...so I aint git to read it...anybody got another link?

Secondly...Fabs...

By the way, if we want to split hairs, it is "You're weak" and not "Your weak." That is one of my pet peeves on these boards, but I try to ignore it as much as possible.

You must really be madder than a wet hen at me cause you know I'm the furtherst thing from grammatically correct.
Ya'll 2 smack lips at each other & make up. Both of ya'll are good peoples and have alot of respect from everyone here on the board...and 2 respectful fellas mad at each other makes the smart-arsh troublemakers like myself look good. We caint go havin that.
Ya'll want me to go kick Zumbo's arsh? I'll represent the Hunt Chat community with pride and honor. I dont hit NO man below the belt

[hnter]

I've met and talked to him a few times, the last years ago when I was outfitting prariedog & coyote hunters. He asked for a free hunt for himself and 5 or 6 friends, I not only said no but "He** no"! He didn't show me much then and hasn't since. In fact Zumbo's a source of great amusment here in WY. He once gave a seminar on Elk calling at the G&F's annual EXPO. It was a total joke and most left it quickly. I think he needs to stick to selling his cookbook, it'll cause less damage.

That's my story and ima stickin to it!

PS: I agree with Skyline.

[skeet]

I'll see if I can't get a copy of what he said and send it to ya. Yeah, you guys have ta cool off and let things go.

Reds I can give ya Zumbo's address and his phone number and I'll even give ya a place to stay...on one condition. Can I come see ya do a l'ilred to him?? When I met him last year he WAS a bit pompous. Bet ya can take that outta his eeerrr ahhhh head!

[Skinny Shooter]

Here is his website: http://www.jimzumbo.com/index.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...022301709.html

'Terrorist' Remark Puts Outdoorsman's Career in Jeopardy
Zumbo's Criticism of Hunters Who Use Assault Rifles Brings Unforgiving Response From U.S. Gun Culture
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 24, 2007; A03



SEATTLE -- Modern hunters rarely become more famous than Jim Zumbo. A mustachioed, barrel-chested outdoors entrepreneur who lives in a log cabin near Yellowstone National Park, he has spent much of his life writing for prominent outdoors magazines, delivering lectures across the country and starring in cable TV shows about big-game hunting in the West.

Zumbo's fame, however, has turned to black-bordered infamy within America's gun culture -- and his multimedia success has come undone. It all happened in the past week, after he publicly criticized the use of military-style assault rifles by hunters, especially those gunning for prairie dogs.

"Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity," Zumbo wrote in his blog on the Outdoor Life Web site. The Feb. 16 posting has since been taken down. "As hunters, we don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them. . . . I'll go so far as to call them 'terrorist' rifles."

The reaction -- from tens of thousands of owners of assault rifles across the country, from media and manufacturers rooted in the gun business, and from the National Rifle Association -- has been swift, severe and unforgiving. Despite a profuse public apology and a vow to go hunting soon with an assault weapon, Zumbo's career appears to be over.

His top-rated weekly TV program on the Outdoor Channel, his longtime career with Outdoor Life magazine and his corporate ties to the biggest names in gunmaking, including Remington Arms Co., have been terminated or are on the ropes.

The NRA on Thursday pointed to the collapse of Zumbo's career as an example of what can happen to anyone, including a "fellow gun owner," who challenges the right of Americans to own or hunt with assault-style firearms.

From his home near Cody, Wyo., Zumbo declined repeated telephone requests for comment. He is a 40-year NRA member and has appeared with NRA officials in 70 cities, according to his Web site.

In announcing that it was suspending its professional ties with Zumbo, the NRA -- a well-financed gun lobby that for decades has fought attempts to regulate assault weapons -- noted that the new Congress should pay careful attention to the outdoors writer's fate.

"Our folks fully understand that their rights are at stake," the NRA statement said. It warned that the "grassroots" passion that brought down Zumbo shows that millions of people would "resist with an immense singular political will any attempts to create a new ban on semi-automatic firearms."

Some outdoors writers drew a different lesson from Zumbo's horrible week.

"This shows the zealousness of gun owners to the point of actual foolishness," said Pat Wray, a freelance outdoors writer in Corvallis, Ore., and author of "A Chukar Hunter's Companion."

Wray said that what happened to Zumbo is a case study in how the NRA has trained members to attack their perceived enemies without mercy.

"For so many years, Zumbo has been a voice for these people -- for hunting and for guns -- and they just turned on him in an instant," Wray said. "He apologized all over himself, and it didn't do any good."

Zumbo's fall highlights a fundamental concern of the NRA and many champions of military-style firearms, according to people who follow the organization closely. They do not want American gun owners to make a distinction between assault weapons and traditional hunting guns such as shotguns and rifles. If they did, a rift could emerge between hunters, who tend to have the most money for political contributions to gun rights causes, and assault-weapon owners, who tend to have lots of passion but less cash.

The NRA appeared to be saying as much in its statement Thursday, when it emphasized that the Zumbo affair shows there is "no chance" that a "divide and conquer propaganda strategy" could ever succeed.

"Jim Zumbo Outdoors" was not broadcast as scheduled last week on the Outdoor Channel and will not air next week, said Mike Hiles, a spokesman for the channel. He said sponsors have requested that they be removed from the program. The show "will be in hiatus for an undetermined period of time," he said.

Zumbo's long career at Outdoor Life, which is owned by Time Inc., also came to a sudden end in the past week. Zumbo was hunting editor of the magazine, which is the nation's second-largest outdoors publication. He wrote his first story for Outdoor Life in 1962.

The magazine's editor in chief, Todd W. Smith, said that Zumbo submitted his resignation after hearing of the large number of readers (about 6,000, at last count) who had sent e-mails demanding his dismissal. Smith dismissed as "conjecture" a question about whether Zumbo would have been fired had he not resigned.

"Jim is a good guy, and I feel bad about this unfortunate situation," Smith said. "We are living in very delicate times. For someone to call these firearms 'terrorist' rifles, that is a flash-point word. You are painting a bunch of enthusiasts with the word. They don't like being called terrorists."

When he wrote his now-notorious blog entry, Zumbo was on a coyote hunt in Wyoming sponsored by Remington, a detail he noted in the entry.

That mention -- as it bounced around in recent days among a number of assault-weapon Web sites -- triggered a call for a boycott of Remington products.

That prompted Remington to issue a news release, saying that it has "severed all sponsorship ties with Mr. Zumbo effective immediately."

Remington chief executive Tommy Millner issued a personal appeal to gun owners who might be thinking about boycotting the company's products: "Rest assured that Remington not only does not support [Zumbo's] view, we totally disagree," Millner said. "I have no explanation for his perspective. I proudly own AR's and support everyone's right to do so!"

Zumbo, in his public apology, said that when he wrote the blog entry that criticized assault rifles, he was at the end of a long day's hunt.

"I was tired and exhausted," he wrote, "and I should have gone to bed early."

http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/gunn...ania_davi.html
http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/gunn...ania_part.html

[Tennessee Elkman]

This past weekend at the RMEF Elk Camp apparently after stepping down from his 2 year term on the Board od Directors, (not related to his story, his term was simply over) he got back on a plane and flew home. Can't say that I blame him as he would have been right in the middle of a fire storm with some of those guys.