In May, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a new bill into law to allow the concealed carry of firearms in some public areas of public colleges and universities. The new law was seen as a victory for the National Rifle Association, who had just held its annual convention in Atlanta, but if you listened to them, you’d think that Georgia was close to banning guns altogether.
In a stunning display of irony, NRATV host Grant Stinchfield is concerned that a newspaper is trying to sway people’s opinions about issues related to guns. Talking about an Atlanta Journal Constitution article about that Georgia campus carry law, Stinchfield cannot believe the blatant subterfuge on display:
“But it’s their use of the word weapon that has me bewildered. The reporter uses ‘weapons’ in place of firearms or guns so many times, it just becomes bizarre. Here, ‘Fears of gun owners getting drunk and firing their weapons.’ I firmly believe she uses the phrase weapons over firearms in an effort to scare the uninformed.”
Stinchfield immediately ruins his own budding conspiracy theory by informing the audience that the state of Georgia officially calls concealed carry permits a “weapons carry license.” Stinchfield thinks this is absurd, for the military carries weapons, and private gun-owners carry firearms, which everyone with a brain knows are “tools for self-defense.” That Georgia (Georgia!) is referring to guns this way “hurts the perception of law-abiding gun ownership,” according to the man who is paid to lobby for a very specific perception of gun ownership.
The segment is worthy of an eye-roll, but as it doesn’t feature an NRA spokesperson appearing to foment civil war, it’s a step forward from the organization’s recent rhetoric.
(Via Media Matters)