GRNC Alert 06-04-14: Did Anti-gun N&O Columnist Commit a Gun Crime?

IS ANTI-GUN SAUNDERS COMING CLEAN?

The N&O’s Gun-Totin’ Action Hero

In his May 28 News & Observer (N&O) column, anti-gun writer Barry Saunders refers to pro-gun-freedom Facebook commenters as “Hopalong Cassidy wannabes” and “Quick Draw McRib[s].” Yes, ol’ Barry sees all them stoopid, gun-totin’ rednecks as wannabe action heroes with more ammo than sense. Of course, these absurd caricatures that Saunders has floating around his head are exactly that—absurd caricatures. If Barry wants to track down a real gun-totin’ action hero wannabe, he may not have to look very far. In this very same column, Saunders writes of an incident that suggests that he himself may be guilty of a gun crime.

Shootout at the Saunders Corral

Saunders’ misguided column about how scary a soccer mom with a .380 can be does have one very important take-away:
Anti-gun Barry, who it turns out actually owns a gun, may have confessed to engaging in the dangerous and illegal behavior that he consistently forecasts others will engage in. In his May 28 column, while telling of his own experience finding a burglar in his home, Barry shamelessly admits the following:

“Fortunately for [the burglar], by the time I threw him out, ran back upstairs to get my gun and went looking for him, I saw a Durham cop who took his description and sent my ridiculous self home.”

Yes, you read that right. According to his own words, Saunders first saw the burglar flee his home. Then, instead of locking the door and waiting for the police, he ran upstairs to get his gun, and then went outside to look for the burglar. Had it not been for the police arriving in time to get between Barry and the fleeing man, Barry’s own street may have run red with blood. Whose life or limb would Barry have been defending?

Barry Saunders’ horrific visions of citizens carrying guns are clear cases of psychological projection. Prophecy of shootouts over fender benders and drive-thru murders over condiment errors are likely the columnist’s own imaginings of how he, in his own undisciplined and sporadic ways, might react to such things. Saunders may not understand that most people do not live in such erratic self-indulgence, and they would never react in such horrific fashion to life’s inconveniences and aggravations.

According to his own statement, Barry Saunders may indeed react in this sort of irrational and undisciplined manner. True, finding a burglar in one’s home is no small thing (a bit more than an aggravation). However, seeing him flee your home, and then meditatively retrieving a gun in order to go outside and chase him down is not only irrational, it’s likely illegal. Threatening the use of a gun against a person who is not an immediate threat to you is against the law, and if Barry had shot the man before the police arrived to cut the hunt short, neither the “Castle Doctrine,” nor “Stand Your Ground,” laws that Barry almost surely hates, would offer him legal protection.

Saunders Must Go

Is it sensible for the N&O to employ an anti-gun columnist who demands one thing, admits to doing the opposite, and then boasts about his hypocrisy? Like the Carl T. Rowan story, are we seeing another case where an “elite” few see themselves as above the law, while impugning the character of the rest of us? Enough is enough. Confessed hypocrite and, according to his own words, possible gun-criminal, Barry Saunders, should not be the anti-gun voice of the N&O.

Below, find out how you can get in touch with the N&O, and tell them that you’ve taken all of the insults you can stand from Barry Saunders. Tell them you don’t appreciate being preached to about guns by self-professed gun-toting man-hunter, Barry Saunders. Insist that N&O management show Barry Saunders the door (but you might advise them to stay behind cover when they do it).

Other anti-gun columns by Barry Saunders:

• http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/15/3535799/saunders-leave-your-gun-at-home.html
• http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/03/2653934/more-guns-fewer-nipples-in-public.html
• http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/12/3102691/saunders-no-one-really-needs-to.html
• http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/26/3139040/saunders-theres-no-room-for-nuance.html
• http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/06/02/3905832/saunders-the-next-phase-in-nc.html
  

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

• Phone Editorial Page Editor, Ned Barnett:
  (919) 829-4512.
  Deliver this message:
  I’m a peaceful, law-abiding gun owner, and while I’ve already endured a lot of insults from Barry Saunders, I draw the line at being preached to by a hypocrite who has admitted, in your own newspaper, to chasing someone with a gun. In his column on May 28th, Mr. Saunders confessed to grabbing his gun, and pursuing a fleeing man. It’s time for the N&O to show Barry Saunders the door. I insist that you fire Barry Saunders, an anti-gun hypocrite, and according to his own words, possibly a gun-criminal.
• E-Mail N&O Editorial Page Editor, Ned Barnett: ned.barnett@newsobserver.com
  Copy/paste the suggested message below; and

E-mail the N&O from this webform (or: http://www.newsobserver.com/contact-us/) 

Copy/paste the suggested message below.

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Show Hypocritical, Gun-Wielding Barry Saunders the Door”  

Dear Mr. Barnett and News & Observer Management:

I was recently directed to the Barry Saunders column of May 28, 2014, “Reveling in The Pit’s robbery is shameless behavior”. While I don’t agree with Mr. Saunders’ views, I am writing to you about a question more pressing than a mere difference of opinion. It seems that Mr. Saunders has not only admitted a great hypocrisy, but his own words suggest that he may have committed a serious gun crime. It’s time for the News & Observer (N&O) to relieve Mr. Saunders of his duties.

In the May 28 column, you’ll note that Mr. Saunders admits to chasing a burglar from his home, meditatively retrieving a gun, and then leaving his home to track down the fleeing man. Not only is this a glaring admission of hypocrisy from the N&O’s anti-gun columnist, a columnist who consistently argues that citizens cannot be trusted with defensive weapons outside the home, but Saunders’ own actions, as described by him, may be illegal.

It’s true that gun owners have already suffered far too many insults from Mr. Saunders, but his recent admission on the very pages of the N&O is surely the last straw. Your anti-gun columnist has now admitted that he, himself, may be a gun-criminal. For the sake of common sense, I must insist that you end Barry Saunders’ term as a columnist with your newspaper.

I will be monitoring this issue via alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.

Respectfully,

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