Last month, Guns & Ammo – the self-proclaimed “world's most widely read firearms magazine" - published a controversial editorial entitled “Let's Talk Limits.” The author, contributing editor Dick Metcalf, has since been fired for writing it. His offense, you might ask? Being eminently reasonable, of course: Metcalf took to the magazine (at their behest, mind you) to argue for {gasp} sensible gun control legislation.
The crux of Metcalf's argument lies in his belief that “all U.S. citizens have a right to keep and bear arms,” but that “their fellow citizens, by the specific language of the Second Amendment, have an equal right to enact regulatory laws requiring them to undergo adequate training and preparation for the responsibility of bearing arms.” Preparation? Responsibility? Preposterous! Next thing you know, you'll be gift-wrapping your guns with copies of the Constitution, and then inviting the jack-booted thugs over for tea! Rather unsurprisingly, G&A's (anyone else notice how much that abbreviation resembles that other classic obsession, T&A? Sex and violence, it's what men do best) reader base went positively apoplectic after reading it, prompting all manner of colorful responses.
TheTruthAboutGuns.com called Metcalf “bone-headed”, and an enemy of “The People of the Gun,” a moniker as ominous as it is rife with self-delusion. TheFreePatriot.org believes that since “Metcalf is no longer in a fit mental capacity to be left alone, someone should send Adult Protective services over for a welfare check.” And so on, and so on. The backlash against Guns & Ammo itself was no less severe, with calls for Metcalf's head, boycotts of the magazine, and threats of sponsorship blackout numbering among the more polite responses. Enough hullabaloo was generated by gun fetishists to prompt G&A's editor-in-chief Jim Bequette to issue a formal, ain't-too-proud-to-beg apology in the current issue of the magazine.
“In publishing Metcalf’s column, I was untrue to that tradition, and for that I apologize. His views do not represent mine — nor, most important, Guns & Ammo’s. It is very clear to me that they don’t reflect the views of our readership either.
Dick Metcalf has had a long and distinguished career as a gunwriter, but his association with Guns & Ammo has officially ended.
I once again offer my personal apology. I understand what our valued readers want. I understand what you believe in when it comes to gun rights, and I believe the same thing.”
The “tradition” that Bequette is referring to is, of course, the gun community's belligerent and fanatical obsession with and adherence to the Second Amendment. Bequette's groveling continues, becoming more strident:
“I made a mistake by publishing the column. I thought it would generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights. I miscalculated, pure and simple. I was wrong, and I ask your forgiveness.
Plans were already in place for a new editor to take the reins of Guns & Ammo on January 1. However, these recent events have convinced me that I should advance that schedule immediately.”
While Bequette's face-saving ritual suicide in print will likely register no tangible difference as to the inner workings of the magazine, by making himself into the fall guy for G&A's gaffe, he'll serve as a an excellent focal point by which the magazine can distance itself from the controversy. Sadly, Moloch's followers always demand a sacrifice when transgressions are made, and they'll never hesitate to eat one (or two) of their own in order to preserve their bloody institution.