Thursday, February 22, 2007

Jim Zumbo apologizes on Nugent's Forum

Ran into this link from a post over at The War on Guns. This apology is certainly better than the first;

The last few days have been an educational experience, to say the least. My ill-conceived inflammatory blog, as all of you now know, set off a firestorm that, I’m told, has never before been equaled. I’m not proud of that.

Let me say this at the outset. My words here are from the heart, and all mine. No one can censor me, and I answer to no one but myself. And I have no one to blame but myself. Outdoor Life, a magazine that I worked for full-time as Hunting Editor for almost 30 years, fired me yesterday. My TV show was cancelled yesterday. Many of my sponsors have issued statements on their website to sever all relationships. This may cause many of you to do backflips and dance in the streets, but, of course, I’m not laughing, nor am I looking for sympathy. I don’t want a pity party.

They say hindsight is golden. Looking back, I can’t believe I said the words “ban” and “terrorist” in the context that I did. I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote that. I can explain this as sheer ignorance and an irresponsible use of words. What I’ve learned over the last few days has enlightened and amazed me. As a guy who hunts 200 days a year, does seminars on hunting, wrote for six hunting magazines, had a hunting TV show, and wrote 20 books on hunting, how could I have been so ignorant and out of touch with reality in the world of hunting and shooting?

But I was. I really can’t explain it, maybe because I just summarily dismissed the firearms in question in my mind when I saw them in magazines and catalogs. I saw one “black” firearm in a hunting camp in all my 50 years of hunting, and I shot one last year off a boat when fishing in Alaska. To tell the truth, it was fun and I enjoyed it immensely, but I never considered one for use in hunting. I have to tell you that I have had a revelation. I’m learning that many of my pals own AR-15’s and similar firearms and indeed use them for hunting. I was totally unaware that they were being used for legitimate hunting purposes. That is the absolute truth.

My biggest regret is not the financial impact of all this. I’m almost 67 and retirement is an option. The dreadful impact here is that I inadvertently struck a spear into the hearts of the people I love most…America’s gun owners. And, even though this huge cadre of dedicated people have succeeded in stripping me of my career, I hold no grudges. I will continue to stand as firm on pro hunting as I’ve ever done. But what’s different now is that I’ll do all I can to educate others who are, or were, as ignorant as I was about “black” rifles and the controversy that surrounds them. My promise to you is that I’ll learn all I can about these firearms, and by the time this week is out, I’ll order one. The NUGE has invited me to hunt with him using AR-15’s, and I’m eager to go, and learn. I’ll do all I can to spread the word.

I understand that many of you will not accept this apology, believing that the damage has been done and there’s no way to repair it. You have that right. But let me say this. I mentioned this above, and I’ll repeat it. I’m willing to seize this opportunity to educate hunters and shooters who shared my ignorance. If you’re willing to allow me to do that, we can indeed, in my mind, form a stronger bond within our ranks. Maybe in a roundabout way we can bring something good out of this.

Jim Zumbo

That is precisely what I was thinking Jim. Forgive, LEARN THE FACTS, and SPREAD THEM. Then it can be forgotten....

14 comments:

Unknown said...

That's an improvement for sure, but I remain unconvinced that he has any clue about the real meaning of the 2A and why many of us care so dearly about it.

The fact that ARs are indeed used for hunting is of course not the reason their ownership is legitimate.

E. David Quammen said...

10/4 Gunmetal. He has been blasted from every possible angle imaginable. There are some materials available. In which he can, indeed, learn all about the true intent of the 2A in a week. But, let us not be convinced until he does start to announce the true intent. Until that time, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt. As we need all that we can possibly get on our side. Especially, when considering the amount of pit-vipers in D.C. at this time....

Anonymous said...

People still killing wild animals to eat?

As I write this I am making ¼ inch groups with my AR-10 hybrid. Rxxxxx Rxxx, president and C.E.O. of ar15barrels.com built the upper and I am using a 168 grain Hornaday A-Max loaded to 2750fps in .308 Winchester.

I must be living in a vacuum. The guys at the range tell me that there are guys who are still using bolt operated rifles to hunt animals, especially deer and elk. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone shoot an animal


I call them “sniper rifles” which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I am a realest but I see no place for these weapons among our sporting fraternity. I will go so far as to call them “assassination rifles” they tell me that some companies are producing sniper riles that are “tack drivers”

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in Shooting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people like lee Harvey Oswald and Charles Whitman, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement “people do not need to hunt for food, that is why we have grocery stores” We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."


This really has me concerned. As shooters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods killing poor defenseless animals then fallowing a blood trail till they bleed out. To most of the public, a “Sniper rifle” is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.

Anonymous said...

So are we on board? Black rifles have their use in hunting, Also black rifles have their use for just plain paper punching.

Neither is superior and safe from the Bradys> Regardless of what we shoot, we are guranteed that right (for now).

Neither is more inherently dangerous. Let the folks shoot what they WANT to shoot. It harms non of us.

CaptainRubbernuts said...

Only the nuge cultists will forgive what he has done. What he said was uncalled for and shall never be forgotten.

Anonymous said...

Wow Jim you really got the hammer.

I guess "one 'oh-$#!T' wipes out a thousand attaboys' is really true after all.

You deserve it for calling for banning guns (in certain areas or whatever) and calling certain arms "terrorists weapons."

But I fear this gratuitous piling-on while you're down is going to drive a wedge (deeper wedge) between modern 'military replica weapons' crowd and more traditional hunters (like you) who find the AR's and AK's distasteful.

The hunters like you who don't like the AR/AK crowd are going to feel even more disconnected and hostile to the 2nd amm. purists.

Our, and I say OUR enemies in the "banning" camp must be beside themselves with glee over these developments.

When AR's and AK's go, your Rem 700 "sniper rifles designed only to kill" also known as deer rifles etc will not be long after.

We should all hang together, or we a shall certaily all hang seperately.

Jim, maybe all you can do now is play the Martyr gracefully. Please don't get bitter, and please don't turn against the cause.

I feel for you because all the older men in my family, of the 2 generations before me were all in the same "why does anybody need an AK?" crowd.

You deserve a spanking, but you got the hammer. I hope you have enough money and stocks to do OK.

Cheers old timer.
Simon

Anonymous said...

i have a rem700 with black synthetic stock!

and an AR that's black too!

oh goodness@!

that jerk deserved to be fired.

Anonymous said...

Jim still doesn't get it. He keeps saying in his "apologies" that he didn't know so many people liked, shot, and hunted with these types of rifles.

THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE! What he is really saying is that if it were only a few people he offended, things would have been fine. What he doesn't get at all is that it's not the type of rifle involved, it's that calling for any kind of BAN on ANY KIND OF GUN, whether for hunting, plinking, Self-defense, or anything else is what caused the reaction from all who truly understand the 2A.

The 2A has nothing to do with HUNTING. The type of guns the 2A covers are guns INTENDED TO KILL/STOP HUMANS in Self-Defense and in defense of your loved ones/property/state/community/etc.

Anti's are always saying we should ban certain guns because "their only purpose is to kill people."
OF COURSE, and those are the exact kinds of guns the 2A was meant to protect! Not hunting rifles and shotguns...that's just a fringe benefit of the 2A.

Jim, and a lot of others, still don't understand what the 2A was put into the Constitution to do.

E. David Quammen said...

Doug--Michigan - Yup. Even quite a few gun owners are totally in the dark as to the real purpose of the 2AM. I've made it my personal crusade to awaken as many as possible to the Truth. For, the Truth does, indeed, set one FREE.

2AM = FREEDOM and LIBERTY. Both of which are an impossibility if the means of defending them are lacking....

repeal1968guncontrolact said...

Since he's already been fired and lost sponsors, for him to say what I just read is approaching acceptable. I hope outdoorlife brings him back after 6 months in purgatory. He could just as easily be ranting at us and calling us "kooks," "extremists," etc now that he's been fired, but he's not. The man is 67 and gains nothing from this apology. He could ALSO just as easily be saying NOTHING and quietly walk away mad, instead of getting back on the horse and trying to make amends when no one is paying him to do so.

This is a good opportunity to give the "sporting purpose" crowd a dose of reality and remind them that the 2nd amendment has NOTHING to do with "hunting." If he is allowed to come back, it would do more to help educate the "sporting purpose" crowd than keeping him "banned" forever.

E. David Quammen said...

MACpistol.com - Agreed. That certainly seems to appear the wisest course to take. Hopefully Mr. Zumbro will take the bull by the horns and seize the opportunity. It really would be a kick in the teeth to the anti's.

E. David Quammen said...

mike battaglia - Why thank you Mike! I'm honored, and I'm sure David Codrea will be as well.

MichaelG said...

Zumbo is quoted as writing:
"I was totally unaware that they were being used for legitimate hunting purposes."
Doesn't matter if they have legitimate hunting purposes. My Remington 870 has been used to bring home rabbit, quail & squirrel. That is not why some of my friends have 870s. My Dan Wesson 357 can be fitted with 8 or 10 inch barrels making it a good choice for handgun hunting. That is not why I have it. I no more need to have a legitimate purpose for the ownership of my firearms than I need one for the ownership of my longbow. As long as I do not use any of them for illegal purposes. That goes for my woodworking tools as well. The difference is that people have not noticed the difference between hammers used for sporting/hobby purposes and assault hammers. Yet.
Mr. Zumbo still has his myopic hunting glasses on.

MichaelG

E. David Quammen said...

MichaelG - Yup. And, unfortunately for us, there are many that think the same way as Mr. Zumbo does. (Or did, according to the apologies I've heard from him).

Hopefully, he'll live up to his promise. And, teach those that are unaware of the TRUTH of the matter.