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Retraction: TTAG Published Picture of the Wrong Ivan Lopez

Robert Farago - comments No comments

Last night TTAG received a link to an image in the Fort Hood News of a soldier named Ivan Lopez. We published that picture assuming it was the Fort Hood shooter. After receiving emails and comparing it to a picture of the shooter published at fox.com we discovered that the photograph we published was of a different Ivan Lopez, a man who served this country honorably in Iraq as a Marine Corps Infantryman. We apologize to Marine Ivan Lopez, his family and his comrades-in-arms for the mistake. We have removed posts referring to the image from Facebook, Twitter and the main site. We will learn from this error and endeavor to live up to our website’s name in the future.

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Retraction: TTAG Published Picture of the Wrong Ivan Lopez”

  1. Long overdue. The troops and civilian employees should have never been disarmed. It is shameful that GEN Casey, instead of blithering about “diversity,” didn’t get the regulations abolished after the first massacre at Ft. Hood. It will be even more shameful if it isn’t done now.

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  2. Ouch. Good catch and an honorable fast fix and heartfelt apology.

    Not gonna see that from the ombudsman at WAPO or NYT, methinks.

    Prayers and deepest condolences for the one Lopez family,
    and apologies to the other, for any slight big or small.

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  3. I joined in summer of 00′ and could not believe that with all the training in weapons and tactics even the average infantryman goes through, you can’t carry on base. When I went through R.I.P.(before it was R.A.S.P., ha I get to sound old), a few of the instructors talked about turning sheep dogs into sheep by disarming us on base.

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  4. Thank you Robert for quickly fixing the mistake and contacting me so quickly so I could help verify the picture was of the wrong man. Semper Fi

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  5. I fail to see the reason why TTAG should get praise for a retraction and apology. We are so use to dealing with mediocre companies and media outlets that we start seeing the lack of bad business aspects as good business aspects.

    TTAG is a decent media outlet, they are not unbiased, but are generally not as crazy as some mainstream media outlets can be(left and right), and tend to at least present the facts, even if they have a bit of opinion attached to them. But what else can I expect from a gun blog?

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  6. I’m sorry, but even if you accidentally put up a picture of the wrong Ivan Lopez, that doesn’t mean you owe the mistaken subject anything. This cultural habit in the United States of expecting compensation for a mistake is just wrong. Don’t misunderstand me; I am all about making things right. Did I goof up your hamburger? Ok, let me fix it. Did I post the wrong picture? Ok, let me fix it and apologize.

    WTF do you want? Do you think Rob owes this guy a ticket to Six Flags or something. Let me be clear America, just because something gets goofed up does not entitle you to more than making it right.

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  7. Some of you commenters need to figure out exactly what this website is. As far as I can determine, they don’t have the resources that the national networks have. Along with that, they don’t have the baggage that comes along with that, and for that I’m grateful.

    Seems to me that standing up, saying you’re wrong, and apologizing straight is the best way for someone of character to handle it. Nothing else should be necessary or expected from a website of this size and scope with their resources. They were doing their best to keep us informed, and got this one wrong. Stop your cryin.

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  8. “Heartbreaking” is not the correct word. “Inevitable” is more like it. The levels of stupidity and willful blindness currently exhibited by CIC and Command structure begs the question of their ability to lead any military endeavor. Morale in the military must be at an all time low.

    This adds to the increasing body of evidence that psychoactive drugs do more harm than good. I hope readers understand that psychology is not an actual science. It just pretends to be one.

    If I were Vladimir Putin, this incident would give me the confidence to push through to Kiev. The lame performance of US military Command is beneath contempt.

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  9. The original bill would have banned any state or local official from confiscating legally held firearms and ammunition. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha ridiculed the proposal in a hearing last year, suggesting facetiously that Nebraska should also prohibit the government from confiscating knives, hammers and steel-toed boots.

    “How about lawn trimmers?” Chambers asked. “How about sickles that you use to cut grass with? That’s what I use, by the way, and it would make a very effective weapon.”

    Sure, Chambers. Why not? I mean, if that’s what works for you. I’m being serious, too, not facetious. Why not prevent the confiscation of any common item, too, while we’re at it? 😉

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  10. This actually has a really good chance of passing the house, but Reid is not going to allow it to come to a vote in the Senate, and Obama won’t sign it. He’s not going to let there be a vote on anything that can be used against them in the Fall elections.

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  11. NOPE. I agree with the sentiment that I’d rather the criminal element only have fake or otherwise non-functional guns, or any weapon for that matter.

    What would be interesting to see is whether or not a punk trying to use a fake gun to commit a crime getting shot still being a justifiable homicide. Even with that orange tip on the front, assuming our enterprising thug hadn’t either yanked it off or simply painted over it, it could easily be missed during the Mother of All Adrenaline Dumps.

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  12. How about every duty nco has a weapon. It wouldn’t be a big deal to install a shotgun rack in each duty hooch and have accountability that way. “I snm have assumed post as x company nco. I have in my possession (1) duty logbook,(1) M9 pistol S/N xxxxxxx with (46) rounds of ammunition and one M870 shotgun with (4) rounds of buck. There are/are not any special orders. All General orders remain the same.”
    Require a sign off sheet on weapons rack every hour. And logbook entry to maintain accountability of weapons.

    Easy peasy. PROBLEM SOLVED.

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  13. NRA membership expired. Didn’t see this Sig ad.Yep I find this offensive. No knock raids conjure up images of the Gestapo. One would think Sig Sauer was smarter than to offend potential buyers. I guess not.

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  14. I inherited my Dads K38 Masterpiece. I finally went to the range with it today. After checking the sights from a rest at 25 yds where all the shots were clustering into a ragged hole I shot a group offhand that was about 3″. And I lay no claim to being a pistol shot. The thing is gorgeous. I don’t think he ever shot it that much. The blueing is lovely, cylinder tight. I think he must have purchased it sometime in the early 60’s.

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  15. H110 is a bit fast for the blk with 150 gr bullets. With either A5744 or A1680 you can get mid to high 2000 fps with the 150s. I realise this is an old article and many bullets have since been developed to function at the slightly slower velocities of the blk. The barnes black tip 110 gr over a stout load of H110 or lilgun will get you to 200 yards easily. Same with the 100 grain cutting edge raptor (my current favorite). The 125 nosler ballistic tip has earned a good following. The 125 gr hornady SST over lilgun is an excellent performer as well. All of these bullets listed will get you to 200 yards with the black tip and the SST stretching that a bit further.

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  16. “They know how to defend themselves, but they are not police.”

    Wow. When he said that, I just could not believe it. Unbelieveable that he now considers the police to be more effective at killing an armed combatant than the military.

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  17. Just the goofiest thing…

    I was in a training class last Saturday with a guy using his Sig “pistol” with this stock. He ran the whole class with it functioning as a SBR.

    He keeps the ATF letter in the storage compartment in the pistol grip.

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  18. I definitely want one, but I can’t decide between this and a SCAR first.
    I think it’s fantastic that newer platforms keep evolving, however it is true that the AR-15 continues to dominate the market. The AR is still the best for customizing your own unique weapon, as the availability of parts is phenomenal.

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  19. I’m a poor 18 year old student who only owns one gun, an AR, with no accessories but some magazines, a cheapo LED light, a sling for Appleseed shoots, and some ammo. Someday, somehow I am going to own an Garand, I just hope they’re still around by the time I finish school!

    Get a president elected that will import them from Korea, and the timing might match up perfectly…. Get out and help me out with your votes guys!

    “It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that ping…” Man that would be a sweet Garand tee shirt. I want one.

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  20. Like most folks here, thank goodness, I find this ad utterly
    offensive. I am far more afraid of the fools in blue then the
    local gang bangers. The irony….

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  21. ” … it appears that in the heat of the moment of responding, the desire to be more involved in an important event may have affected the behavior of some responders … ”

    Unlike Bob8, my (admittedly quite dated and small city) experience was that, at the first radio call on anything “interesting”, every swinging richard from every district who wasn’t inextricably involved ran Code 3 toward the scene as fast as possible for exactly the reason Hahvahd alludes to above.

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