Local Media Spinmeisters

[Len-2A Training]

There is a subscription service called "Beacon Hill Roll Call" that "reports" (I use the term loosely) what bills are being acted upon at the MA State House. To call their "reporting" unbiased would be a joke, but it isn't possible to know if the "spin" is provided to them or if they make it up out of thin air. Local and statewide newspapers subscribe to this "service" and print it in their local papers (usually weekly town newspapers).

At any rate, here's the "spin" from last week's Beacon Hill Roll Call on a bill of interest to us. BEWARE: It is full of "mis-information" as written, which is exactly why I'm re-typing it here.

Target Shooting (H4552)

Senate 38-0, approved a bill requiring the state's Public Safety Office to establish a list of firearms used solely for formal target shooting competition and to exempt them from the current law that bans the use of firearms which do not meet pass state safety tests. Supporters said that the bill is designed to allow individuals who are competing in the Olympics and other target shooting competitions, to purchase and use these guns that are currently banned under state law. They noted that the guns are designed to fire easily and that they often fail the state's "drop" test because they fire when dropped. The House has approved a different version of the measure and the Senate version now goes to the House for consideration.

NOTE: There are grammatical and punctuation errors above . . . this is verbatim as printed in the local newspaper.

The author of "this fine work" is Bob Katzen and the paper byline reads as follows:

Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at [email protected]

PLEASE: If you do contact him, be polite and point out the numerous factual errors without flaming. Name-calling will not win us any brownie points! BTW, this is a syndicated column and they never print "corrections" so I wouldn't expect to see anything even if he acknowledges and apologizes.

 

[Skald]

I like BHRC just to check to see how my reps vote.

 

[hminsky]

The worst part of that article is how it buys into the rhetoric that any gun that is not on "the list" must therefore be unsafe.

 

[Len-2A Training]

The worst part of that article is how it buys into the rhetoric that any gun that is not on "the list" must therefore be unsafe.

No, it says that POSSESSION is illegal if it isn't on the List!

I guess it's time that they arrested most of the target shooters at each Thursday match? Might get a lot more folks to see our point of view on "evil guns" vs. "evil people with guns"?

 

[hminsky]

No, it says that POSSESSION is illegal if it isn't on the List!

Oh yeah, you're right. Unbelievable.