Our man parsed H.R. 822 (The “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011”) over a month ago. Despite his definitive analysis, the exact “meaning” of the bill continues to be a matter of debate and confusion here on the Internets. C’est la guerre. And speaking of fragging, the NRA’s lobbying wing is none too happy about the alleged mis- and disinformation surrounding a piece of legislation which has less hope of Senate approval than the “National Keep Lindsay Lohan Naked in Jail Act”. “There’s been a lot of misguided, unfounded, and just plain incorrect information circulating on the Internet lately regarding H.R. 822,” the NRA’s email blast thunders. “Most of the false characterizations typically come from the anti-gun groups and media.” But not all of it . . .
But more and more, a small cadre of self-described “pro-gun” groups continually sound false alarms and “stir the pot” in an effort to be noticed. These repeat offenders peddle mischaracterizations as the gospel, and dilute the good work being done to protect the Second Amendment by legitimate groups.
Some of the misinformation borders on ridiculous. One group circulated an email this week (Thursday, October 20) warning readers that, “H.R. 822 could be taken up for a vote as early as tomorrow morning.” What the author failed to realize is that “tomorrow morning,” (Friday, October 21) was a day the U.S. House was not even in session! Not very confidence-inspiring.
Yeah. Get your facts straight! And don’t mischaracterize information or use alarmist rhetoric. That’s our job!
NOTE: This post originally suggested that the NRA was taking on gun bloggers. Although all the groups that the NRA accused of getting it wrong have blogs, the NRA wasn’t attacking bloggers per se. I apologize for the mistake.