I got a call today at the shop.  It was a reporter from the Richmond Times Dispatch here in VA.  He had called around to other shops in VA and none of them either wanted to discuss the AK-74 that the asshole is possibly using or they just didn't know much about "those types of rifles".  The reporter was directed to me since I have somewhat of a reputation for "those types of rifles".

I agreed to talk with him.  I figured that they were going to print a story anyway, they might as well talk to someone who isn't going to spout out some bullshit.

The reporter was actually very polite, and seemed intelligent enough to ask good questions and to grasp what I was telling him.  Also discussed who buys "those kinds of rifles" and why.  Also agreed with me that it really didn't matter if he was using a semi-auto or a bolt action rifle, the kind of hits he's making doesn't depend on magazine capacity.

The story should be in Thursday's paper, I just hope he didn't screw me.  I was very upfront with him about my willingness to help him write a factual story, but that I was not going to help him if this was going to be a piece decrying the ability of average John Q. Public's ability to own "those kinds of rifles".

Oh well,  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I actually have had pretty good luck with our paper, the Richmond Times Dispatch.  They are usually fair and somewhat conservative in most cases.

Oh NO Mr. Bill........I guess that at least if they were REALLY wanting FACTUAL information, they came to someone with a REPUTATION for "those types of rifles. My fingers are crossed that "you did us good, pilgrim". Don't you just hate getting put in that kind of a position?

Templar,  I don't think you screwed up anything at all.  How many times have you watched the news and someone is given the title "expert" in whatever they are talking about.  Many of these so called experts have little knowledge of what they are talking about, but are the flavor of the day & many just have name recognition.

It is good to see that someone that is very knowlegable in this area was even asked.  

You hit the nail on the head!  This freak of nature is only takeing one shot, so it does not matter if he had a thirty round mag or not!

This could be a semi automatic or a bolt action rifle!  Does it matter?

I am happy to see a reporter asking the right people.  Now I just hope he reports the story acurately.  

I hope liberal bias does not get in the way of the story.

Thanks

Thanks for the support guys, we'll see how it plays out.  I really didn't know if I should talk to him or not, and YES, I hated being put in that position.  I didn't want to refuse to talk to him, come off like an asshole and send him to talk to some moron, but I'm always very leary of talking to the mass media about firearm related crime.

I've NEVER been quoted correctly by any interview without a tape recorder.  I've now begun to start one for myself when the interview starts so that I have "correctable" evidence during the editing process (if I have the rare chance) or so that I can ask for a correction to be written later.  

I've never had a reporter falsify a story, only pull pieces together to mean something different.  

It really doesn't matter with the timeline you are talking about.....the only thing that you can hope for is a correction blurb if needed.

There's never a problem telling the truth, only when you tell it to someone else so that they can tell your truth.  

Don't worry about it.....

Jeff

While good deeds are likely to get butchered by 'news makers', you had to do much better than what I saw on the news yesterday. A woman at one of the main news channels was in a 25 yd range with an AR15 that had a rubber coated Leapers 3-9x scope on it. She was showing how you do not need to be a seasoned expert to make clean shots. She had no previous experience, and was putting them at about 4" in the 8" head of the target silloutte.  Never mind how distance adds up, the public was informed one step at a time.
If he broke into homes at night and stabbed people, you would not see panic about knife control.