When gun stores betray gun owners.

I read a tall tale, otherwise known as a story from the New York Daily News, the other day about some guy that I'm guessing was born without functional testicles claiming that firing a few rounds from an ordinary, everyday stock AR-15 game him PTSD. His name is Gersh Kuntzman and he was the yarn-spinner of this tall tale.

If that were the case, we could very well begin having upwards of twenty-million veterans from the past five-plus decades making disability claims to the VA based upon our traumatic experiences in firing select-fire M-16's during our time in the military.

I've linked the story in the opening paragraph, but it's not the real story here.

The appearance of gun stores betraying gun owners is the real story.

In the story, a gun store owner, Frank Stelmach, is seemingly quoted as being significantly sympathetic to the sniveling twit whose shoulder was "bruised" from firing an AR-15. Stelmach is purported in the story to be supportive of mental health background checks and background investigations reaching beyond the applicant and instead extending to their families, friends and even employers before they can purchase an "assault weapon."

There is more and you can read it yourself. But, be advised, make sure you have fresh batteries in your Bullshit Detector. If you do, you'll see it begin pegging towards a 9.5 when Mr. Stelmach is (allegedly) quoted.

The reaction, I'm sure, is exactly what the "journalist" from the NYDY hoped for: Strong, virulent, profane backlash against the gun store owner.

I know my first impression upon reading the story was to fire off an e-mail or private message to Mr. Stelmach suggesting that he commit an anatomically impossible sexual act upon himself while packing up to move back home to Europe when the story says he came from just a few years ago.

But something just wasn't passing the Smell Test.

The story by Kuntzman gave a little too much insight to Mr. (Frank) Stelmach in that it mentioned he had worked as a career law enforcement officer in Europe, then came to America and opened a gun store. That was my first clue. European cops and ex-soldiers who come to America, in my experience, have been fervent supporters and defenders of the Second Amendment. These people have seen--and lived--firsthand in societies and governments that ruled by oppression, be it social or political, and of which rules were enforced by people with guns who wore uniforms. As a result, such "ex-pats" that come to the USA and get their first sip of the nectar of freedom often become our staunchest supporters.

However, that didn't seem to be the case in the story. Instead, it seemed as though Stelmach actually supported more background checks and other (useless) restrictions and obstacles. There are more instances which curl the nose and peg the BSD (Bullshit Detector) in the story, but those are not the point. You can read Mr. Stelmach's rebuttal to the underhanded trickery pulled on him by Kuntzman here.

The point is this: I fear that these "hit journalists" will be coming out with a lot more "stories" like this in which gun store owners are intentionally misquoted or selectively edited, ala Katie Couric, in order to draw the instant, immediate and insane ire of the gun-owning community. Thanks to social media, one can make one's opinion known with the click of a mouse and depending upon the reach, that opinion can then be seen and shared by tens of millions of people in mere hours.

The destruction to one's reputation can be catastrophic--and the anti-gun media is counting on it.

So my appeal to all gun-owners is this: If/when you read a story in which a gun store or prominent individual is quoted regarding firearms in such a way as to cause you to wonder exactly where they stand on the issue, do a little homework. Call the gun store. E-mail/message the gun-owner. Get it from them firsthand.

The goal here, by the anti-gun cowards, is to enrage and divide our community, then take our comments made in haste in response to such stories and plaster them in front of our elected officials in an attempt to "show how even gun owners want more gun control laws."

To those who run, own, operate or work in a gun store, I would do the same amount of background checking on any journalist who wants a quote or story from you as that journalist claims they want on any law-abiding citizen who is looking to purchase a PTSD-causing AR-15.

If the journalist or their newspaper or station shows to have run consistent anti-gun stories and positions in the past, turn them away.

Tell them they didn't pass your background check for integrity and ethics.