Ready, aim…
West Australian, Page: 2. Friday, 29 May, 2009
Journalists get sent all sorts of information packs with guidelines for the sensitive and sensible reporting on everything from mental illness and suicide to bomb threats.
But what we have not had is A Journalist’s Guide to Firearms and the Shooting Sports.
Until now A crash course in firearms, shooting sports and recreational hunting lobbed on IC’s desk this week.
The booklet has a great section called “gun myths” which, among the many issues it highlights, tries to dispel the idea that better gun ownership controls would result in fewer killings.
Here is the entire unedited response: “Sadly, Australia’s last mass murder, the Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire of June 2000, in which 15 young lives were lost, was done with a cigarette lighter and rubbish bins.” Myth busted. Clearly.
In other busted myths you’ll be pleased to note that not all guns are designed to kill people. In fact, guns designed for target practice use “relatively low-velocity ammunition”. So the bullets will probably bounce off, yeah? Then there is the myth that “criminals mainly have guns in order to commit crimes”.
Get ready for this, here is their response. “Criminals buy guns mainly in order to protect themselves, not simply to use for armed robbery, which the public may generally think”.
Thank you, we feel completely reassured.
It also suggests pitfalls reporters could avoid like saying “the shooter used a high-powered rifle”.
“In this sentence, the term high-powered rifle ‘ is misleading. It is most likely used to give a negative connotation. In reality, most firearms are high-powered.” Although some of them are low-velocity, right?
Click here for SSAA National’s response to this letter.
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