Hilarious!

http://web.thestate.com/content/columbia/2002/01/08/opletter/warsawweb08.htm

Letters to the editor
'State' needs to make sure gun facts correct
The incident that prompted The State's recent interest in turkey shoots involved a 20-year-old with a handgun. Last time I checked, it was still illegal for anyone under 21 to possess a handgun. How will imposing new regulations on legal turkey shoots dissuade under-age people from violating laws already on the books?

And speaking of stories in The State, I see that a Horry County deputy was killed while trying to break up a domestic dispute. I won't comment on what should be done with the shooter, but I'm really curious about the gun used. You report a .45 mm handgun. By my desktop calculator, that comes out to about .0175 caliber, which sounds very small. But maybe The State slipped in an extra decimal point, and the gun was actually a 45 mm. That works out to 1.755 caliber, which sounds very large. At times like this, I wish I knew more about guns and didn't have to rely on your experts. Could this be yet another error in reporting on firearms issues?

The obvious solution is a five-day wait or "cooling off period" between the time your reporter prepares a story and when it may be published. This reasonable restriction would allow facts to be verified by a federal agency (such as the Newspaper and Information Confirmation Service). A brief delay wouldn't interfere with anybody's rights but would make sure that people exercise their rights in a responsible manner. I'm confident the media would go along with my proposal. They like it for the Second Amendment; why not for the First?

JOHN K. WARSAW
Lexington

Excellent letter. I'd also give some credit to the paper for printing it.

Thanks for the post.

I like it.  "Journalists" will have to get a background check before publishing any article.  Articles that are designed to spread lies and twist facts will require a $200 federal tax stamp, not to mention fingerprinting, confusing regulations, and waiting until some beaurocrat gets around to reviewing the case.  Been done for the 2nd...

SB