SEPTEMBER 2005

CNN Vigorously Promotes an Antigun Agenda
Editorial by John Burtt, President of FCI
February 24, 2005
On February 17th CNN News ran a "Special Report" on the Paula Zahn Now program titled Armor-Piercing Weapons Easy to Acquire? For a video or to read the transcripts of that program click here.

The program was particularly interesting for two reasons. First, if you take into account all that is happening on the antigun front lines you will see that the program produced by CNN was not by accident and the timing of the program was specific to what is going in the legislative arena of the US Congress. If you have been paying attention, one of the most contentious bills to face our federal legislature this year is now being debated in the US House of Representatives. That bill is The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, sponsored by Rep. Cliff Stearns, Florida Republican. This is the same bill that our Congress tried to pass last year that was stopped by a coalition of anti gun US Senators who attached an Assault Weapons Ban amendment to the bill, which in effect killed the bill. Again this year, Senator Diane Feinstein (CA) has promised to attach an amendment aimed at banning the 50 caliber target rifle from law abiding gun owners in America.
The program aired by CNN at the specific time it aired and the subject matter it covered was not by accident. They knew the bill was going to be debated and they knew what tactics were going to be used to "Amend" the bill. Their purpose was to air their program at the right time to help put their 'spin' on how this bill would be perceived by the American public to promote their gun control agenda. This is just one more example of how they promote gun control at any cost. For years the same tactics have been used by major news organizations in their “special reports” documenting the .50 caliber rifle and promoting gun control in general. Recently CBS "60 Minutes" did a similar diatribe against the 50 BMG rifle.

Like Senator Feinstein they capitalize by using trusted positions of elected office and a captive audience of viewers to distort the subject to an uninformed public.
The second thing that is particularly interesting about the "Special Report" by CNN is the giant leap they take in convincing the American public how untrustworthy we all are when it comes to buying or selling guns without some kind of federal bureaucracy sitting there watching every step we make. Since this country was founded, private citizens have been trading, buying and selling guns from their neighbors and friends without any kind of problem. Now in the last twenty years if you're under the age of 18 years old or just an adult private citizen, they have created the feeling that you are committing some kind of devilishly fiendish crime if you want to buy a gun or sell one that you've owned legally for years. From the very beginning of the "Special Report" Mr. Griffin emphasizes how 'easy' it is to buy this 'big' gun from a private citizen. As if doing so was improper or criminal. If you, selling your private property is a criminal act, it is only because they (And we all know who THEY is) made it criminal.

Well, I for one agree with Ronnie Barrett. I think it's your right to own one. As a matter of fact, I think you should be able to own as many as you can afford. I happen to own seven. I also happen to agree with Ronnie Barrett that we need better regulation of criminals, not law abiding citizens. Any organization that Starts with the premise that people who go out on the Internet or go to a private party to buy a gun is somehow evil is not the kind of organization I want telling my government what laws they should or should not pass. CNN capitalized on their position as a major purveyor of public opinion and they preyed on a captive audience of viewers to distort the subject to an uninformed public. They demonized and use inflammatory language to create a “crisis” that begs for legislative controls. The legislative controls that equate to a blatant attack on the 2nd Amendment, which is exactly what is happening on the floor of the US House of Representatives this week. Our 2nd Amendment rights are being slowly whittled away and the attack on the 50 caliber rifle by gun control extremists like Senator Dianne Feinstein and CNN News and CBS "60 Minutes" is just a well coordinated and orchestrated example of that unabated attack.

Most of these legislators don't even know there is a sport shooting organization in America that has safely used the fifty caliber target rifle for twenty years. The Fifty Caliber Shooters Assn., Inc. (FCSA) is a sports shooting club, organized in 1985 as a non-profit corporation in Tennessee for the purpose of promoting the sporting aspects of the .50 BMG cartridge. The organization is comprised largely of professional and scientific people who support scientific development, public safety and American principals. They are from diverse walks of life including doctors, lawyers, scientists, military and law enforcement. FCSA has published a quarterly periodical, Very High Power since 1986, which serves as its voice and clearing house for technological development related to the sporting uses of the .50 BMG. The FCSA and the manufacturing sector maintain a liaison with the military and law enforcement and have made significant contributions to the information base of both.