The What, Where, and How

Rustmeister got his fisk on all over some jackhole in the Sun-Sentinel named Gary Stein who flatly stated “Nothing Good Comes From A Gun”. (and I’m not linking to Stein’s crap)

Stein asserts that because he never hears of anyone using a gun for self-defense, that it never happens. He then mockingly asserts that paranoid gun owners believe that there is a conspiracy to not report these stories.

While I hate to playing to his hands on this, there is.

Well, maybe not an actual “big” conspiracy, but there are several small ones.

When a shooting takes place, the police have to broadcast over their exclusive radio frequencies to communicate the situation with one another. At least a dozen of the local moderate-to-large sized media outlets have scanners dialed into these frequencies. They know the ten-codes so they know The What, and they have maps so they know The Where. They believe that it is their job to report The How so they go Where What happened happened.

But before they do that they make two phone calls. The first is to the local constabulary’s Media Rep to see if they can get any “official” information out of them. Their second call is to the jurisdiction’s Comm Center to see if they can get more information out of the peons dispatch office before they arrive on scene.
Guess which types of shootings get calls but no press arrival?

Correct! Self defense shootings.

Example: Last month, a man living on the very south end of Seattle came home from work and found a man in his kitchen. He confronted the intruder and the intruder grabbed a knife. The home owner pulled out his legally carried concealed pistol (not that he needed a permit on his own property) and shot the intruder three times in the chest. He then called 911 and reported it. The dispatcher broadcast the information, sending more than a half dozen officers to the home.

Of course, hearing a 222 (aka: DOA) call, the media types filled the emergency lines trying to get information. Once they gleaned that it was a home owner acting in self-defense against an armed intruder the “Oh, OK thanks” were given and not a single guy with a pen, paper or a camera showed up at the house or even called the Media Rep for followup info.

Turn that situation around and have a home owner being shot by a repeat felon with a revolver and you’ll get wall to wall coverage of a mad gunman with an “assault rifle” that night on the news.

It actually is a bunch of little conspiracies and they are being committed by people whom Gary Stein knows and invites over to his home.It probably isn’t being done maliciously, they just don’t think that self-defense sell papers or ad time, or some such horse-hockey.

I would like to add that Stein vows to never allow a gun in his house. While I do disagree with him, let us all hope that no one violates that rule of his with ill intentions.

And I would like to vow that any media operation, Radio, Television or print, that will consistently report self-defense acts with firearms will get my full and undivided attention and support (and I think yours as well).