Pinko Hippie Fired From 'Guns & Ammo' Magazine For Suggesting 'Gun Safety' Might Be A Good Thing (Updated)

[Update/New Development: see end of post]Just as some wingnuts think that Fox News is too liberal because it occasionally acknowledges that Barack Obama is actually the President, now there are a whole bunch of gun fondlers calling for the head -- mostly metaphorically -- of Guns & Ammo contributing editor Dick Metcalf, who committed the unpardonable crime of suggesting that the words "well-regulatedmilitia" might actually mean that the Constitution allows even the slightestregulationof private gun ownership. Where would he get such a RIDICULOSE idea? Everyone knows that "well-regulated militia" just means "able to carry all the guns you can hold or fit into a Ryder truck."

In an editorial in its December issue -- scanned and reposted at the "TruthAboutGuns" blog -- Metcalf makes the possibly treasonous statement, "The fact is, all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be." Worse, he says that not all regulations on guns are unconstitutional infringements -- specifically, he favors laws that would require gun owners "to undergo adequate training and preparation for the responsibility of bearing arms." He even seems to think that since gun safety training seems to be a be a good thing -- the NRA has not yet suggesting outlawing it, at least -- then the government should be able to force free people, against their will, to learn how to handle a gun safely:

“I’ve seen too many examples of unsafe behavior on too many shooting ranges to believe otherwise. And we’ve all read too many accounts of legally armed individuals dealing with the consequences of not being properly trained or prepared when confronted with a bad situation.”

The Liberty-hating monster even closed his editorial by saying "I don't think that requiring 16 hours of training to qualify for a concealed carry license is an infringement in and of itself," which translates into Gun-Fondling Wingnuttese as "I believe all guns must be seized and destroyed, and that a Communist takeover would be a good thing, also I want The Blacks to rape all your wives."

WELL! The Internet Is Not Pleased! The magazine's FacePlaceSpace Page has been overrun with people vowing to cancel their subscriptions, boycott the magazine, and to fill liberals full of buckshot for good measure. They demanded that Metcalf be fired, and perhaps be stripped of citizenship, and the messages make it clear that his utterly foul opinions have no place in American political discourse, which of course is a place where former members of Congress are supposed to call for armed insurrection against the U.S. Government, duh.

And yesterday, the fondlers got their wish:  Metcalf has been fired, and editor Jim Bequette has apologized for even allowing Metcalf's heresies to sully the pages of Guns & Ammo:  

Let me be clear: Our commitment to the Second Amendment is unwavering ... In publishing Metcalf’s column, I was untrue to that tradition, and for that I apologize. His views do not represent mine — nor, most important, “Guns & Ammo”’s. It is very clear to me that they don’t reflect the views of our readership either.

Dick Metcalf has had a long and distinguished career as a gunwriter, but his association with “Guns & Ammo” has officially ended.

I once again offer my personal apology. I understand what our valued readers want. I understand what you believe in when it comes to gun rights, and I believe the same thing.

I made a mistake by publishing the column. I thought it would generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights. I miscalculated, pure and simple. I was wrong, and I ask your forgiveness.

Translation: You fuckers scare even us, but we still want your money, so fuck "a healthy exchange of ideas": Metcalf is history. Please keep buying our magazine, please?

Not that the fondlers are satisfied -- now many are calling for Bequette to resign for having allowed the piece to run in the first place.

Update: And as of this afternoon,Guns & Ammo editor Jim Bequette has resigned as well.   Business Insider reports that while the magazine had been due to get a new editor January 1, Bequette "announced he would expedite the process and resign immediately."

Because of an editorial suggesting the utterly unthinkable, tyranny-promoting notion that people who own guns should be trained to use them safely. Welcome to America in 2013.

[ Ad Age via RawStory / Facebook / Guns & Ammo ]