Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Metcalf Canned

Intermedia moved quickly to protect their flagship Guns & Ammo property and capped longtime editor Dick Metcalf after his inexplicable, profoundly stupid column on the Second Amendment:


Couple of personal points here...Dick Metcalf and I have been friends for 30 years...that's a lot of adult beverage under the bridge. We have shot together, competed against each other, run matches, exchanged lies, and on and on. But the cold hard truth is he had to go. You can't spew the kind of nonsense Dick wrote and expect to walk away from it unscathed.

The very best thing I have read on the whole imbroglio comes from my friend Paul Erhardt writing in The Shooting Wire:
It's hard to tell exactly why Dick Metcalf chose to write what he did. Even harder still to understand his embracing of regulations as both needed and fundamentally the cornerstone of the framers' intent when they wrote "a well regulated militia."
Paul quotes from another column by our mutual friend Paul Markel from Student of the Gun:
The reasonableness approach is seductive and genuinely the default of most people. Were we living in a different time I might be willing to acquiesce to Dick's many reasonable points. However, for at least a century, as far back as the questionable passage of the individual Federal Income Tax, we the people of the United States of America have indeed been reasonable. We have accepted restrictions on our liberty a tiny bit at time. A minuscule amount of arsenic will not kill you, but it builds up over time, slowly.  
Decade after decade, we are treated to just a bit more gun control, just a bit more restriction in the name of public safety. To argue against "public safety" makes you unreasonable and modern man fears that label. Individual liberty and freedom will not be killed by a single, decapitating blow, that would be far too obvious. Instead, the body of liberty is being slowly but very deliberately bled to death one tiny cut at time, the cuts being so small as almost not to be noticed.  
When it comes to liberty, we, the reasonable people, have given and given and given, but it is never enough. The beast of the authoritarian state will never be satisfied. I, for one, am finished willfully surrendering my liberty. Don't come to me asking for "reasonableness" I'm all out and if you took a moment to be honest with yourself, I think you would be out as well.
We are playing a deadly serious zero sum game...every time our blood enemies win a point, we lose a point...and move closer to the abyss The concepts of "reasonable," of "national dialog," of an "open conversation" are nothing but false flag operations to reel in suckers.  We've had a "national dialog" for half-a century, and all we've done is lost ground. Hey, the facts are all on our side! The numbers are all on our side! The laws are all on our side! How can we lose a national dialog?

"If you like your health policy, you can keep it...period! If you like your doctors, you can keep your doctor...period!"

Here's how. Folks, our blood enemies lie. They are not misinformed...they are not operating on incorrect or incomplete information...they are not misinterpreting data...they are intentionally NOT speaking the truth because they know that low information voters have the attention span of gnats. They lie, because they understand if you keep telling the lie it wraps itself in the veneer of truth. As Adolf Hitler, the master of the Big Lie, wrote in Mein Kampf:
All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true within itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.
The concept of "reasonable" is flypaper for smart people. Smart people — and former Professor Dick Metcalf is indeed a very smart man — find the idea of debate virtually irresistible because they believe they can't lose. I am reminded of the head of a gun company whom I counseled not to appear on a weekly network news show. Do you think I can't handle myself, said the exec, a trial attorney by trade? No, I replied...I said the game is rigged...you cannot win. I quoted Leonard Cohen"Everybody knows the dice are loaded; everybody rolls with their fingers crossed..."

He ignored me, and a quote taken out of context cost him his job.

To borrow a phase from our Liar-In-Chief, let me be clear...our blood enemies have one single agenda item  — one single item! — that has remained unchanged for half a century, and that is complete and total civilian disarmament. Or, to phrase it another way, door-to-door confiscation of every civilian-owned gun in America. That's it, folks.

Recall how that for the last decade as support as support for gun control waned we heard more and more about "reasonable" and "common sense" gun control laws. Don't be silly, we were told...no one wants to take away your guns! The moment Newtown happened and our blood enemies thought — incorrectly — that the national landscape for gun control had changed, it was confiscation time, baby! Hey, San Francisco started the confiscation of magazines with a capacity greater than 10 this week. The end game is ALWAYS confiscation!

For more than a decade Paul Erhardt and I have taught that whomever gets to define the game will ALWAYS win said game. When a high-visibility "gunnie" like Dick Metcalf decides to validate the other side and by stepping into their arena, it does untold damage to our cause.

Dick, Good Lord, what were you thinking??? 

We don't need a new dialog, a national discussion, a third way, a new beginning or common sense anything...we don't need "reasonable" — we need to hold the damn line against people who would happily load us into boxcars and send us east! We need to say no to the people who destroy our heritage, spit on the Constitution and unleash their thugs. 

No compromise.

That clear enough?



 

40 comments:

Jasonfb said...

On a less serious note, that's one more left-handed gun writer I don't have to watch shooting right-handed guns left handed and wondering who put him on teevee.

Waddy said...

Well said Michael, and what a miserable shame it is for Mr. Metcalf.

DamDoc said...

That sums it up well, Mr Bane.. when i read his equivicating article, that is all I could think... Oh my, what was he thinking? NO more equivicators.. this is a generational WAR.. it needs to be fought that way..

Moosejaw said...

Ok Michael. Let's clear the air. As long as obama bundler Leo Hindery jr is CEO there at intermedia I will never renew G&A or Shooting times. You know what I'm talking about. Everyone else google it.

Anonymous said...

Michael, you are spot on! No more compromises.....in fact, we need to start fighting to regain lost ground. Citizens owned cannons at the time of the founding of this country, the largest arms of their time. "Shall not be infringed"=All gun laws are unconstitutional.

Anonymous said...

wake up and smell the coffee. Metcalf is a scapegoat: Leo Hindery is testing the waters:

Employees of Obama donor Leo Hindery Jr.’s media conglomerate Intermedia Partners, which now owns most of the top gun-culture media outlets in the country, believe that Hindery plans to gut and destroy all of them as part of a business plan that has already led to numerous layoffs and the virtual shuttering of prominent television production facilities in Minnesota and Montana.

Hindery, who was in consideration to be President Barack Obama’s secretary of commerce, is managing partner of Intermedia Partners. The New York-based media private equity fund owns Intermedia Outdoor Holdings, which publishes 17 hunting, fishing, and shooting magazines, including Guns & Ammo, Handguns, Gun Dog, Rifle Shooter and Shooting Times.

InterMedia Outdoor Holdings purchased the pro-gun hunting and fishing network the Sportsman Channel in 2007, and is now in the process of acquiring the Outdoor Channel, pending the federal government’s approval of last month’s merger between InterMedia Outdoors and Outdoor Channel Holdings.

InterMedia employees believe that Hindery, a Huffington Post blogger who has contributed to numerous Democratic politicians including Andrew Cuomo and Elizabeth Warren, is in the process of consolidating all of America’s leading gun-culture media outlets and stripping them down to virtual destruction.

DamDoc said...

is fmg independent of obama bundlers? Maybe i cut my subscriptions to shooting illustrated, american fifleman and american hunter, and call it good. My wife says I am overrun by gun mags anyway. I simply CAN NOT do business with somebody that will take my subscription money and give it to THE ONE.. there needs to be a purge here.. talk about a trojan horse.. This is like putting the Russians and Chinese in charge of thr US military communication system.. holy crap!

Alien said...

Hmmm.....If Anon 0459's info is correct, and given the pro-left leanings of so many media, I suspect it probably is, I wonder if Metcalf's editorial was a deliberate "test the waters" effort. Hindery's recovery attempt did state that an editorial change was coming in January, so making that change 7 weeks early is no big deal (wanna bet if Metcalf's paychecks run through 12/31?). Editorial staff doesn't work in a vacuum; I'm sure Michael can confirm that there's a lot of ideas, concepts, opinions bouncing around among staff constantly. I'm hard pressed to believe Hindery was blindsided by Metcalf's piece. Which means Hindery knew who he had in that editorial position, and is aware of the stance of his other editors (it's the publishing world - damn near everyone is an "editor").

I'll agree wholeheartedly with Michael's position - No compromise, not now, not ever. Gun ownership, possession and use is a basic, if not the basic, civil rights issue. Unfortunately, too many - both people and outlets - get squishy on it and start sounding a little like Metcalf's piece.

It's binary - either you're for individual liberty and freedom or you're not. We need to make that clear and enforce it. Everyone - individuals as well as companies - is entitled to their opinion and has the right to express it. We have the right to decide how much we want to associate, including doing business with, those of contrasting opinions.

It will be interesting to see what Hindery's advertisers do. There are only so many proven paths to gun consumers, but it, and its ancillary endeavors (camping, boating, etc.) are bigger than most people realize. If there's a gun periodical restructuring in the offing, as Anon 0459 says, Remchester et al will not want to get caught flatfooted, and will seek out new, and potentially better, paths to consumers. When gun ads start showing up in women's magazines, subdued though they may be, we'll know gun industry leaders aren't asleep at the switch.

JohninMd.(too late?!??) said...

Michael, please comment. Is Hindry an Obama-drone, do you think he's trying to consolidate gun-mag publishing,with an eye to it's destruction, at least as a tool for 2A folks? Hell, they bought Outdoor Channel, that kinda makes him your BOSS, don't it? Not an enviable for you, my friend. I know you believe in our cause, Brother. Keep on keepin' on....

Anonymous said...

One would have thought Zumbo's imbecilic column and the immediate firestorm it ignited would have been sufficient to Metcalf from making the same mistake.

Apparently not.

Anonymous said...

The Outdoor Channel was NOT purchased by InterMedia. Their bid fell through a couple months ago.

Moosejaw said...

read some of the other posts. it is not Metcalf. it is the doooooshbags who own G&A., shooting times and a bunch of other gun publications. it is Leo Hindery Jr. he bought up the magazines to destroy them....he is an Obama bundler. Pay attention there will be a test.

Michael Bane said...

Intermedia did bid on OUTDOOR CHANNEL, but in the end OC was purchased by Kroenke Sports Enterprises in Denver. Founder Stan Kroenke owns sports teams around the world, including the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, and is a dedicated outdoorsman and Montana fly-fisherman.

Since KSE took over OC, we have run a class at GUNSITE on pistol and ARs for our new bosses, our relationship with the NRA is better than ever, and Management is talking about taking head-on some VERY controversial topics.

Yes, budgets are tight, and yes, since I'm owned by a Colorado media company with deep roots locally, I will probably resume filming here...haven't made that decision yet.

mb

nj larry said...

The 2A world is all about money. The industry has an iron clasp on the media outlets, the minds of the 14 yr olds coming into the world, the politicians. That is what all the gun rags and TV are about. Money. Period.

If Metcalf or Zumbo screw up the money flow then they will be fired. If the focus groups say get women in shorts running around banging and clanging, then that is what you will see. If tiger stripped stocks bring in more money, then Tiger it is. If a buck can be made from yelling and hooting on a canned hunt in Texas, then guess what, it will be the bees knees on TV shows. If 14 year olds like to see buzz guns that will be it this week.

The Black sleeping car porters weren’t organized because some magazine travel writer was spouting off. Folks didn’t get their heads bashed in at the Edmund Pettus Bridge to further the running shoe companies. There was an understanding of a deep civil/natural right to human dignity being denied. The gun world hasn’t reached the point yet of understanding this. Not the broadest majority at least. That is why the whole Fudd vs shooters thing. Why you can have people that work in the industry like Zumbo and Metcalf, oblivious to the fundamental issue. I could care less about the gun writers and gun rags. If there is a momentary alignment in my thinking and a show or article, fine. But overall, it makes no difference in my life. I would much rather read about a court case or contribute magazine or cable package money to a group fighting FOR my rights.

Personally I don't believe in outsourcing my God given rights to the executives of companies looking only to make money from selling guns or accessories. By hook or by crook. That is why companies back in the day were perfectly willing to sell out the civilians in exchange for military contracts. They aren't civil rights organizations. They are businesses. Wake up folks.

Anonymous said...

It appears that Leo Hindery's goal might be to close the magazines. Stopping your subscriptions may help that purpose. Putting pressure on advertisers might put more of a bite on a businessman.

jerry from upstate new york said...

Is this true ??California Begins Confiscating Legally-Purchased Guns

It is not surprising that the first police raids to take legally-purchased firearms from citizens are in California. Until recently, the state had the strictest gun control laws and the liberal run state government has always looked unfavorably on the Second Amendment.
Earlier this year, the state legislature expanded the list of what they call “prohibited persons” – people who have legally registered a firearm but, for various reasons, are no longer allowed their Second Amendment rights. These reasons were expanded to include people who are behind on state taxes, did not pay toll fees in a “timely” manner and a wide range of other minor misdemeanors or reported mental health concerns.

In preparation for the crackdown, the state authorized $24 million to hire additional officers to track down 20,000 people on the list. One person on this list was Joe Mendez.

A police officer came to the door and lured Mendez out of his house with a story of a hit and run report. Once outside, he had M16s pointed within inches of his face, was taken into custody and had all weapons removed from his house.

It is important to remember that these were legally- purchased and registered firearms. That gets to the other issue about this initiative.
This case demonstrates what registration lists really are. They are tools to allow police to confiscate weapons. And, all they have to do in California is come up with a reason you should be on the prohibited persons list; a list that is continuously expanding in its scope and definition.

California gun owners beware: your firearms and rights are being confiscated by your liberal politicians.
e?

Anonymous said...

This is the single-best column ever written on this blog? Thank you Micheal! Very well composed and said.

Now, we need to apply the same logic to the "New" Peoples-Republican Party. The old hard-line Progressives like John McCain need to retire and move over for the restorers of our good name. Bring in Ted Cruz.

Last, Guns & Ammo needs to also fire the editor that allowed mr. metcalf's (lower-case intended!) article to be printed. Let's all call for the heads to roll right up to the last man (or woman) responsible for the printing of it. If they stay, the disease remains uncured!

Life Member

Anonymous said...

This didn't take long:

http://news.yahoo.com/guns-ammo-editorial-controversy-203042117.html

It seems that the editorial had the expected effect; it energized the opposition.

Life Member

Longbow said...

Michael,

You are correct, no compromise. As far as Mr. Metcalf, no sympathy. Good riddance.

gunman42782 said...

Bravo, Michael!

Drago said...

Any comment from Metcalf himself yet? Some lame "apology"maybe. A plea of being "misunderstood"?

Drago said...

Who was the firearms executive you counselled Mr. Bane? Inquiring minds want to know!

Overload in Colorado said...

I wonder what Jim Bequette meant when he said in the Guns & Ammo letter, "I thought it would generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights."
Sounds like 'Reasonable Debate" to me.
Metcalf gone, but what about Bequette?

Moosejaw said...

Michael I imagine the politics of your job make it impossible to comment on intermedia. It may be where your future paycheck comes from. I have been stonewalled about Hindery from the NRA and NYSRPA my state organisation. The state organ told me Hindery appeared to be just a businessman making money for himself. I reject that.

Awtha said...

Or as Pogo said; "We have met the enemy... and he is us"

Michael Bane said...

I don't work for Intermedia! Honest! I work for KSE, and they are 100% stand-up guys!

My understanding (from rumors) is that had Intermedia succeeded in purchasing Outdoor Channel, i was first on the "chop list!"

mb

George said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I actually agree with Metcalf. I think the attack on him is wrong.All rights have limits on them in some form and fashion including the right to bear a gun. Turning on him is also turning on other pro gun people who think the same way he does. It's a mistake to purge people who disagree on the fine points of law but otherwise agree on the primary parts. Of course, I expect to receive the same consideration Metcalf got.

Anonymous said...

Then again Dick Metcalf had to have had the bosses' blessing to write the article. It doesn't always have to run downhill. However I doubt if I would have ever honored his opinion again if they had left him on staff.

Vince Warde said...

I think that the place Dick Metcalf arrives at is 100% valid. The route by which he gets there isn't. Clearly the framers were not mandating gun control in the 2nd Amendment.

However, having said that, we do need to recognize that even the rights secured by the highest protection (strict scrutiny) are subject to some limited regulation in some limited circumstances. Mr. Metcalf gives some examples in his editorial. When examining such laws, the courts, including SCOTUS, require two things to be true. First, the law must serve a compelling purpose. Second, the regulation must be the least intrusive that will meet the need.

Do I think, that at least in some states, there is a compelling need for people to be trained before carrying a loaded firearm in public? Probably. So, then it become an issue of the nature, cost, and duration of training. Mr. Metcalf argues that in Illinois, 16 hours is not excessive and therefore does not violate the 2nd Amendment.

It's too bad he didn't approach the issue a bit differently.

Vince Warde said...

"Hey, San Francisco started the confiscation of magazines with a capacity greater than 10 this week."

They may have passed a law requiring such action - but it is highly unlikely to be enforced. Calguns Foundation and/or the NRA will bring suit and it will be stuck down under the state preemption law, which was affirmed recently by of all people, Jerry Brown, when he vetoed an exemption for Oakland. This is nothing new for San Francisco - they passed laws banning handguns three times in 25 years and lost in the courts every time.....

Vince Warde said...

"Is this true ??California Begins Confiscating Legally-Purchased Guns"

Yes, but it's nothing new. When Jerry Brown was AG he was, to everyone's surprise, a supporter of gun rights. He came down hard on many of the abuses that the state "gun cops" were involved in. His attitude was, "Stop harassing law abiding gun owners and start going after criminals. Under his leadership they started comparing handgun registration lists against "proof of disposal" lists - largely for felons. It was never an issue until a liberal from San Francisco took his place, She is now out to "take as many guns off the street as possible" without prioritizing convicted felons. At least one DOJ officer has quit in protest..... and the new AG is talking about running for governor.... I need to leave this state.

Jerry from upstate new york said...

I'm leaving upstate New York for Florida. Two reasons
The safe act. And to be closer to the kids and grand kids. BUT the safe act is what pushed me to put the house on the market.

It will be years here in ny before this thing works it's way through the courts

Cuomo said he is a PROGRESSIVE in a PROGRESSIVE
State!

kmitch200 said...

Vince, I think that the place Dick Metcalf arrives at is 100% valid

You would be 100% wrong.
Metcalf the Dick says it's OK to incrementally trample on rights and you're OK with it?
Are you fucking kidding me?
You think mandatory training is needed in some states? Why? Are these states inhabited with special needs people? What about cost?
Why do you hate poor people?

You don't need to leave CA and PLEASE DON'T!! I don't want your views on rights polluting anywhere else on the planet.

Adam said...

Mr. Bane, I'd take that as a high compliment if you were first on the "chop list." It means the antis are afraid of what you're doing. Thanks for all your work on behalf of freedom.

bgary said...

like you, I've known Dick for a lot of years.... and cannot believe that he's gone this direction. It makes me wonder "what else" is in play.

Earschplittenloudenboomer said...

The confiscation of "legally purchased" guns in California is a response to the realization that California has done a lousy job of keeping up with the recording of "Prohibited Persons" into the State's DROS (Instant Background Check) system. The CA DOJ did an audit of DROS firearm purchase approvals and found that a significant number (.5%) were approved for persons which were prohibited by Federal and/or State law to purchase a firearm due to criminal or mental history (this also means they lied on the 4473 form at the time of purchase). I have no doubt that some of these persons were detained at gunpoint as many are felons, some violent, such as rapists and those with felony assault or domestic abuse convictions. As a gun store owner, I don't want to see any firearm I sell to become a murder weapon or be in the hands of someone with a violent felony or severe mental history in their background. Yes, it is the person who needs to be delta with, not the gun, and that is just what the DOJ in California is doing when it comes to the some 20,000 individuals. Look at it another way, if you hand a clerk in a store a $20.00 bill for a $15.00 purchase and receive $10.00 in change, is it right, or should the error be corrected? This is what is happening here. The DROS errors are being corrected. Does anyone really have a problem with that? Let's leave the conspiracy theories a the door. It doesn't help our cause.

Overload in Colorado said...

I guess I misread the statement by Bequette. He resigned as editor, and Metcalf was fired.

tablekiller said...

Well said and written as usual Michael.

A friend asked me after Newtown. Why our side was not willing to compromise on "common sense" gun control.

I simply responded, "There is no debate, there is NO Compromise. The debate ended in 1789 with the passage of the Bill of Rights.

To hell with compromise! Because compromise to a liberal means "Abandon your principles and agree with us."

I will do neither. Like you say on the podcast, we need to be a ONE issue voter. I pull the lever for Guns every time.

I am with you on that!

Chad Hendrix
Biloxi, MS

nj larry said...

Well Metcalf seems not to be alone in the gun media world. Sad really that we have numbnuts like these held up over the years as experts and role models.

Guns.com editorial supporting Metcalf.

http://www.guns.com/2013/11/08/guns-ammo-wrong-fire-editor-dick-metcalf-editorial-2a-limitations-video/