Jim Zumbo in Hot Water for AR AK Rifle Comments
Jim Zumbo is one of the most renowned and respected outdoor writers of our time. Unfortunately Jim Zumbo is now taking a lot of heat from the very industry he is apart of. Jim Zumbo “had” a blog on the Outdoor Life web site. Jim recently made a post on his Outdoor Life Blog in regards to AR and AK rifles that were negative and how there shouldn’t be a place for these types of rifles in hunting. Here is a short portion of his comments:
I call them “assault” rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I’m a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I’ll go so far as to call them “terrorist” rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are “tackdrivers.”
Unfortunately these comments have made a lasting impression on his supporters. Outdoor Life has now pulled his blog and has left the following message on the blog site:
Statement from Outdoor Life
Due to the controversy surrounding Jim Zumbo’s recent postings, Outdoor Life has decided to discontinue the “Hunting With Zumbo” blog for the time being. Outdoor Life has always been, and will always be, a steadfast supporter of our Second Amendment rights, which do not make distinctions based on the looks of the firearms we choose to own, shoot and take hunting. Please direct any comments you have to OLletters@time4.com.
Furthermore, another blow has come from one of his major sponsors - Remington Arms Company. It is ironic that the very hunt Jim Zumbo was on that he made the blog post from was a hunt accompanied by Remington Arms personnel. Remington Arms has since released a statement that they are severing their sponsorship with Jim Zumbo:
Remington to Sever Sponsorship Ties with Jim Zumbo
Madison, North Carolina – As a result of comments made by Mr. Jim Zumbo in recent postings on his blog site, Remington Arms Company, Inc., has severed all sponsorship ties with Mr. Zumbo effective immediately. While Mr. Zumbo is entitled to his opinions and has the constitutional right to freely express those opinions, these comments are solely his, and do not reflect the views of Remington.
“Remington has spent tens of millions of dollars defending our Second Amendment rights to privately own and possess firearms and we will continue to vigorously fight to protect these rights,” commented Tommy Millner, Remington’s CEO and President. “As hunters and shooters of all interest levels, we should strive to utilize this unfortunate occurrence to unite as a whole in support of our Second Amendment rights.”
We regret having to terminate our long-standing relationship with Mr. Zumbo, who is a well-respected writer and life-long hunter.
To try and stop the landslide of criticism, Jim Zumbo quickly made a follow up post on his blog making a serious apology (all of this has since been taken down from the Outdoor Life Blog site). Here is how it started out:
I was wrong, BIG TIME
Someone once said that to err is human. I just erred, and made without question, the biggest blunder in my 42 years of writing hunting articles.
My blog inflamed legions of people I love most….. hunters and shooters. Obviously, when I wrote that blog, I activated my mouth before engaging my brain.
Let me explain the circumstances surrounding that blog. I was hunting coyotes, and after the hunt was over and being beat up by 60 mph winds all day, I was discussing hunting with one of the young guides. I was tired and exhausted, and I should have gone to bed early. When the guide told me that there was a “huge” following of hunters who use AR 15’s and similar weapons to hunt prairies dogs, I was amazed. At that point I wrote the blog, and never thought it through.
Mr. Zumbo continues to apologize, expressing his concern for not understanding the rifles he was criticizing before making his comments, but also confirming his stand on his lifelong support of hunting, the NRA, our Second Amendment Rights, and his support of the troops overseas fighting for our freedom. He concludes that he already has plans to hunt with Ted Nugent using AR 15’s as a way of learning more about them.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the future. There has been some damage done already and the future of Jim Zumbo the outdoor writer could be in jeopardy. I hope that there can be some give and take on this issue, maybe a little forgiveness, and most importantly a good lesson learned. For Mr. Zumbo, unfortunately that lesson was learned the hard way.
UPDATE: I thought it would be best to try and post the whole comments made by Jim Zumbo so people would be able to get the whole picture instead of tid bits here and there and to allow you to make a better conclusion for yourself. I went through my RSS feed reader, and I was fortunate enough to find the feeds of his blog posts (I subscribe to his blog feed). I was able to find these posts in my reader that stored them in cache. Since they are now taken down on his Outdoor Life Blog site, the only way of getting a true account of this is if you grabbed it before it was taken down or if you have it saved in cache somewhere. Well, I have it saved and therefore thought I would post his whole orginal blog post and then his second post where he makes his apology. What’s interesting is the disclaimer that was posted by Outdoor Life after Jim’s original post.
Original Post (made Feb. 16, 2007)
Assault Rifles For Hunters?
from Hunting With Jim Zumbo by outdoorlifeAs I write this, I’m hunting coyotes in southeastern Wyoming with Eddie Stevenson, PR Manager for Remington Arms, Greg Dennison, who is senior research engineer for Remington, and several writers. We’re testing Remington’s brand new .17 cal Spitfire bullet on coyotes.
I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.
I call them “assault” rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I’m a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I’ll go so far as to call them “terrorist” rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are “tackdrivers.”
Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don’t need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I’ve always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don’t use assault rifles. We’ve always been proud of our “sporting firearms.”
This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don’t need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let’s divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.
UPDATE: As a point of clarification about this blog, it is important for everyone to realize that the opinions expressed here are Jim’s and not necessarily those of Outdoor Life.
I’ve been friends with Jim for many years and have shared countless great times with him talking about both hunting and guns. While I totally support Jim’s right to express his point of view—this is his blog after all—I don’t happen to agree with him on this matter.
His position that AR- and AK-style rifles don’t have a place among our “sporting arms” is not one that I personally, or Outdoor Life as a magazine, happens to share.
In the six years that I’ve worked at Outdoor Life we have never wavered in our support of our Second Amendment rights, which don’t, and shouldn’t, make a distinction about the cosmetic look of the guns that we choose take to our local gun clubs or into hunting camp.
That said, I don’t expect every other hunter and sportsman out there to have a set of opinions that moves in lockstep with mine. So while I don’t share Jim’s view on this, I also know that he is still the same wonderfully talented and good-natured person he was before this post went up. For those of you who have followed him for all or part of his more than thirty years at Outdoor Life, I would ask you to bear that in mind before damning him with personal attacks.
John B. Snow
Executive Editor
Outdoor Life
Second Post - Apology
I was wrong, BIG TIME
from Hunting With Jim Zumbo by outdoorlifeSomeone once said that to err is human. I just erred, and made without question, the biggest blunder in my 42 years of writing hunting articles.
My blog inflamed legions of people I love most….. hunters and shooters. Obviously, when I wrote that blog, I activated my mouth before engaging my brain.
Let me explain the circumstances surrounding that blog. I was hunting coyotes, and after the hunt was over and being beat up by 60 mph winds all day, I was discussing hunting with one of the young guides. I was tired and exhausted, and I should have gone to bed early. When the guide told me that there was a “huge” following of hunters who use AR 15’s and similar weapons to hunt prairies dogs, I was amazed. At that point I wrote the blog, and never thought it through.
Now then, you might not believe what I have to say, but I hope you do. How is it that Zumbo, who has been hunting for more than 50 years, is totally ignorant about these types of guns. I don’t know. I shot one once at a target last year, and thought it was cool, but I never considered using one for hunting. I had absolutely no idea how vast the numbers of folks are who use them.
I never intended to be divisive, and I certainly believe in United we Stand, Divided we Fall. I’ve been an NRA member for 40 years, have attended 8 national NRA conventions in the last 10 years, and I’m an advisory board member for the United States Sportsmen’s Alliance which actively fights anti-hunters and animal rights groups for hunter’s rights.
What really bothers me are some of the unpatriotic comments leveled at me. I fly the flag 365 days a year in my front yard. Last year, through an essay contest, I hosted a soldier wounded in Iraq to a free hunt in Botswana. This year, through another essay contest, I’m taking two more soldiers on a free moose and elk hunt.
When I started blogging, I was told to write my thoughts, expressing my own opinion. The offensive blog I wrote was MY opinion, and no one else’s. None of the companies that I deal with share that opinion, nor were they aware of what I had written until this firestorm started.
Believe it or not, I’m your best friend if you’re a hunter or shooter, though it might not seem that way. I simply screwed up. And, to show that I’m sincere about this, I just talked to Ted Nugent, who everyone knows, and is a Board member of the NRA. Ted is extremely active with charities concerning our wounded military, and though he’s known as a bowhunter, Ted has no problem with AR 15’s and similar firearms. My sincerity stems from the fact that Ted and I are planning a hunt using AR 15’s. I intend to learn all I can about them, and again, I’m sorry for inserting my foot in my mouth.
130 comments February 21st, 2007
