Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
Compare the headline in the paper where the incident actually happened with the headline in the local paper.
In this one, the guy shot himself by accident:
In this one, the gun “went off” and shot him:
The subtle difference is the PiPress article makes it sound as if the firearm can spontaneously discharge at any time; the implication is it’s too dangerous to have one around so we should ban them all, for the children.
What media bias?
Joe Doakes
There may be no subject on which the media is both less balanced and less competent than firearms.
For exampe, the media meme that George Zimmerman “had a round in his chamber, his hammer cocked and his safety off” when the confrontation with Trayvon Martin started. He was carrying a Kel-Tec 9mm. It’s a double-action only pistol, a type I hypothetically might have a lot of experience with. You can’t cock the hammer, and there is no safety. And of course he had a round in the chamber; that’s where they belong – provided you don’t have a cocked hammer.
Given that everyone who has ever taught me about shooting has noted to never trust the safety, one wonders whether we ought to rename that feature a “trigger block” or something like that that describes what it actually does.
But in the MSM’s defense, they can’t take a look at Zimmerman’s pistol because the DOJ/FBI have requested it not be given back to him, apparently. Never mind Florida and federal law on the matter.
I actually prefer the term “accidental discharge”, which demonstrates a complete lack of “gun control”. ;^)