There are a ton of writers and photographers from the national media floating around the NRA Annual Convention, and the reason is pretty obvious. With the increased fervor over gun control in the United States, the NRA is, naturally, a lightning rod for civilian disarmament advocates. And their celebration of all things gun related here in Houston is their first time to show off since the events of last December. Wanting to capitalize on that emotional response, a photographer for Bloomberg (pictured above in the light blue shirt) sidled up to me on the show floor in front of the Bushmaster booth and simply asked, “so, which one of these rifles was used in the Newtown shooting?” His next question – who else makes “assault rifles.” . . .

He obviously hadn’t done even five minutes of homework before the show and was going for the sensational photos and stories. I get the distinct feeling that he wasn’t here to cover the immense support that the NRA leadership has from its members, or their growing numbers, or the generally sunny disposition and intelligence of the attendees. He was here to show that the same evil black rifles used by mass murderers were being glorified and sold to a new generation of shooters.

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48 COMMENTS

  1. Well I hope you said none of these rifles at this booth have killed anyone, and none of these are “assault rifles”, just rifles.

      • I would have taken him by the arm and led him over to the “silly soaker” booth and said “there ya go pal” there’s your weapons of mass destruction

    • Great opportunity to point the takers photog toward some juicy photo-op and feed him an outrageous, preposterous background story to go with it.
      Then see if it makes it to print.

  3. Any wealthy moguls on TTAG?

    What we need to ultimately secure the Constitution against present and future infringement is our own,honest,and unfailingly truthful media network with the same market power and penetration as CNN .

    That being said,the impact of such an organization has connotations beyond the RKBA.Perhaps I should be on the lookout for black cars and Carpet Cleaner vans after posting this.

  4. I take it they still issue press credentials these days?

    It’s gotta be tough being an obvious leper, but being rendered totally incognito is simply beyond the typical whiney’s mental abilities.

  5. I’m thinking that it is still in the police evidence locker somewhere…. Silly “reporter” ….

  6. What’s with the democraticgovernors(dot)org ads on this site? Google ad services is weird.

  7. I’m sure there’s someone there who can revoke his press badge and get him booted from the show. Report him.

  8. Should have taken him over to a display with a skeet shotgun and told him it was that one.

  9. “so, which one of these rifles was used in the Newtown shooting?”

    My first thought was, “Huh? I would have thought the Connecticut police would be holding onto that one.”

    • Ha, my first thought was, “Well, it’s probably in an evidence locker somewhere…”

  11. You should have shown him to some drinking straws and a pile of wadded up dirty toilet paper.

  14. The answer to his question was none of these weapons were used in that shooting….

  17. Gee, if I were in charge of security, I would have escorted Bloomberg’s minion out, and issued him a trespassing notice…then dared him to come back.

  18. You should of told him its not here and walked him to a booth with muzzle loaders. Let him look like the idiot he is.

  19. Dear Mr. Bloombergian:

    “Ths is the type of gun reported to have been used in XX defensive scenarios so far this year.

    “While also abused at Newtown, in the hands of parents it is in current use guarding schools.”

    Let ‘im chew on THAT.

  20. Ask him what kind of car he drives, how many drunk driving deaths that brand of car has been in, then ask how he can be such a monster driving around in a car that’s killed so many.

    I think you should have had him roughly escorted out, then slapped him with trespassing and assault charges, using as many “witnesses” as I’m sure would have been glad to help. If he doesn’t respect my 2A rights, I sure don’t care about his 1A rights.

  21. Bloomberg is the biggest commie in the USA aside from Adolf Obama!

    He is a traitor and the people of New York are FOOLS to continue following his unconstitutional dictator laws.

    If he had been mayor on 09/11/2013 the Muslims would have wiped out 1/2 of New Yourk.

    • Cause the muslims are out to destroy your country.

      MUUUUURRRICAAAAA!!!!!!!! F**********ck YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      What I am trying to say is that people like you make our side of the cause seem a bit paranoid and redneck-y.

    • dude i’m face-palming at this comment so hard, i’m warping time and space.

      you done went full retard.

  22. Please explain to me why the rifle that was designed to “Repel Major Assaults” is now considered an Assault weapon?
    In the 1960’s the M16 was presented as a rifle that could “Repel Major Assaults” due to his size, weight, and shape (not to mention the smaller bullet). Would that not make it an Anti-Assault Rifle????

    • Also, if memory serves: The M16 is a military refinement of the AR15, which is a rechambered and refined AR10. The project that resulted in the AR10 originally started as a light weight survival rifle.

      Which makes the AR10 a survival rifle, the AR15 a smaller caliber version of that survival rifle, and the M16 and M4 subsequent militarized refinements of those survival rifles.

  23. Forget the Bushmaster. What I want to know is who is the new owner of bin Laden’s AK. Don’t think for a second that the SEALS left THAT trophy behind. Some one now owns that puppy……

    • Not to be pedantic, but wasn’t that a Krinkov?
      ….or a Khyber Pass knock-off of one?

      • Yes, it is well known that he carried the same Russian AK-74U (Krinkov) since the Russian Afghanistan days. It fires 5.45×39. Still an AK though. The “U” suffix means”Ukorochennyj” in Russian = “Shortened”.

  25. To support Christi’s .50 cal ban he wanted you to say a M-82A1 that can shoot 500 rounds a second and has the 1000rd mag LOL. That what he wanted to hear but I think and wish every one there would tell him to get the *&^$ out of here!

  26. What a douchebag….
    I guess the art of hatchet jobs is alive and well in American “journalism”…

    • Hey! Come on. It’s only 99% of lawyers that give the rest of them a bad name.
      Also, 5/3 of all people don’t understand fractions.

  28. Show him the scissors used by Kermit Gosnell to murder babies?
    Oh right, that does not fit the narrative.

  29. response should have been, the same one you are using: “your brain”; knucklehead

  30. The thing to do would have been to interview him. Get him into a conversation that shows off his ‘expertise’ in his subject area.

    Then put it out there on the ‘net for Bloomberg viewers and readers to make up their minds just how credible Bloomie’s reporting is.

  32. The camera pictured is a Canon, either a 1 series or a 5/6/7 series body with a battery grip added. It has a 70-200 L lens on it. I know this because I am a retired professional photographer and I have this equipment. I can also tell you it’s not suitable for what he was trying to do. So not only does he not know what he’s talking about with regards to guns, he apparently doesn’t know wtf he’s doing with a camera, either. Somehow, though, I’m not surprised. This is, after all, a reporter we’re talking about.

    • Moi aussi. However if that is the faster, image-stabilized version of that lens, he might get by with it. The 24-70L would have been my choice for this coverage, not only for range & speed, but being a non-white lens it’s less obtrusive.

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