EDITORIAL

Anti-gun politician caught

boarding aircraft with a gun

David A. Lombardo

Let me see if I've got this straight. On Wednesday Illinois State Senator Donne Trotter is boarding a commercial airline at O'Hare Airport for a flight to Washington, D.C. when the screener notices a handgun in his carry-on luggage. Trotter, who is a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District seat vacated recently by Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., had a .25-caliber Beretta semiautomatic pistol in his bag.

Trotter is the classic Chicago South side anti-gun Democrat who doesn't think people should be allowed to own firearms and is on record as an advocate of an "assault rifle" ban. Trotter, who was reportedly charged with a Class 4 felony, bonded out.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Trotter told police he worked late the previous night as a security guard and didn't realize the pistol was in his bag. Rick Pearson, who co-wrote Legislator held on gun charge in the Trib with Jeremy Gorner, wrote Trotter's story unquestioned. I love objective journalism.

When I wrote to Pearson about some rather significant questions I thought he'd overlooked and suggested that he'd either wittingly wrote an uncritical piece, or unwittingly been duped, he responded with ad hominem shots about my being a self-professed expert among other things.

Putting the classic liberal mentality of, "its okay for me but you're too stupid" anti-gun hypocrisy aside, there are some troublesome facts. He was carrying a .25 caliber pistol as a security guard; seriously? What was he guarding - the Keebler factory from terrorist elves? So if we buy into that story then we find he gets off duty, goes home, takes off his uniform or whatever he was wearing, and is standing there with his gun in hand. At this point he takes the gun and absent mindedly mistakes the suitcase he's packed to go to the airport for his safe, closet, nightstand drawer, or any of 20 other places one can store a firearm. If you believe that then the Keebler Factory thing may not be that far off after all. 

Bob Costas using your advertising

dollars for an anti-gun rant

If you missed last week's Cowboys/Eagles game, you missed Bob Costas taking viewers hostage as he ranted about the Jovan Belcher murder/suicide tragedy for his own political, anti-Second Amendment ends. Costas said, "You want some actual perspective on this? Well, a bit of it comes from the Kansas City-based writer Jason Whitlock with whom I do not always agree, but who today said it so well that we may as well just quote or paraphrase from the end of his article ... Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it. In the coming days, Jovan Belcher's actions, and their possible connection to football, will be analyzed. Who knows? But here, wrote Jason Whitlock, is what I believe. If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today." Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, summed it up best when he wrote in a December 3^rd piece in the DC Social Reader, "Only a media elitist, living a cloistered life inside the NBC newsroom, could let loose with such a woefully ignorant, ill-timed and irresponsible statement. Furthermore, the fact that Costas tried to partially hide behind a fellow journalist borders on cowardice." 

Brownells' to give away dream 

gun package at Shot Show

Attendees and exhibitors visiting the Brownells' booth in January at Shot Show will not only see the newest and best gun gear but will also have the chance to win an incredible custom Dream Gun package provided by Brownells'. The "Brownells' Dream Gun Sweepstakes" package includes the winner's choice of any one of the Brownells' Dream Guns, a course of their choice at the world-renowned Gunsite Academy in Paulden, AZ, plus $2,000 travel cash. To be eligible, people must visit the Brownells booth and have their credentials scanned. Among the 12 Dream Guns on display at the booth and available for the winner's choosing are: highly-customized AR-15s, Remington and Benelli shotguns, a Glock 17 pistol, 1911 pistols, and more. "Our Dream Guns have been awfully popular," said Frank Brownell, Chairman of Brownells'. "We started outfitting AR-15s and 1911s for our catalogs a couple of years ago to give our customers ideas for personalizing their own guns. With all of the great feedback, we started customizing shotguns and other pistols, too. We're looking forward to seeing all of the great folks at Shot Show, and especially to give away one of these incredible guns."

Walther to locate U.S. Operations

in Fort Smith, Ark.

Made in USA makes a difference to

sportsmen but price still big factor

When HunterSurvey.com and AnglerSurvey.com sought to determine how much weight the "Made in USA" tag carried with sportsmen when making purchases of outdoor equipment, they found most respondents agreed that U.S.-made products were of better quality and it was important to buy them. They also discovered there is only so much most hunters and anglers are willing to pay for that label. When asked how important it is to buy fishing tackle or hunting equipment that is made in the USA nearly 94 percent of hunters said it was very or somewhat important 63 percent of hunters believe US-made hunting gear is better than equipment made overseas. So how much more are sportsmen willing to pay to support American jobs? If the "Made in USA" product is five percent or less in cost, 85 percent of anglers and 89 percent of hunters report will buy the American-made product. But after that, numbers begin to drop sharply, and once the US product exceeds 20 to 30 percent in cost, only 34 percent of anglers and 36 percent of hunters say they are willing to pay the difference.