The apparently never-ending George Zimmerman saga continues, having stepped off The Streetcar Named Self-Defense and boarded the Wives And Girlfriends Crazy Train. Officials have just released a list of the five guns that police removed from Zimmerman’s home after his latest arrest on November 18th . . .
Police seized an AR-15 with two magazines, along with a Glock 19, a .380, another 9mm, and a Kel-Tec KSG shotgun. All of the firearms were locked up when police arrived. They also found 106 rounds of ammunition, which, according to the LA Times, constitutes a “Large Ammo Stash.” In fact, that’s the title of the article: “Police find 5 guns, large ammo stash in George Zimmerman’s home.” (Click here, if you must, for the original story. The LA Times doesn’t list the specific firearms, but the Orlando Sentinel listed some of them, before blathering about ‘assault rifles’ and KSGs.)
With a $1,200 KSG, it sounds like Zimmerman was moving upmarket from his old salad days with a $280 PF9, but it’s nice to see he’s still got some brand loyalty to Kel-Tec.
106 rounds of any kind of ammunition does not constitute a ‘Large Ammo Stash.”
Let’s put this in perspective for non-People Of The Gun: Do a couple of twenties in your pocket constitute a ‘large roll of cash?’ Is a whole jar of Ibuprofen a ‘large medicine stockpile?’ Does a full tank of gas in your station wagon make you a ‘doomsday prepper?’
No. Just, no.
Reporters at big news outlets don’t always get to pick the titles of their own stories, but if reporter Soumya Karlamangla is responsible for this one she’s a goddamned idiot. 106 rounds of ammunition is less than what most officers haul around in their duty bag, far less than the basic load of our soldiers or Marines, and less than what most recreational shooters would burn through in a very short trip to the range.
Let’s guess that Zimmerman had some ammunition for each of his five guns. You could buy ten rounds of 12-ga buckshot, 60 rounds of 5.56, and 56 rounds of 9mm for $60 without even bothering to look for a good price, or you could even spend up to $100 (gasp!) if you bought nothing but premium defensive rounds. Either way, Zimmerman’s whole “Large Ammo Stash” would fit in a single plastic grocery bag with room left over for a pound of frozen hamburger and a loaf of bread.
With yellow journalism like this, it’s no wonder that newspapers like the LA Times are stupiding themselves out of existence.