The political hokey-pokie

By: Walter34Payton2002

Many people are aware of the phrase "Liberal media bias," but it seems that many of those same people think that it's just some right-wing rhetoric. However, on television and in print, there exists a decided Liberal media bias, especially with respect to the topic of firearms. Some of the worst anti-gun rhetoric, lies, false information, and purposeful misleading of the public comes from the New York media where politicians like Michael Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton, and Chuck Schumer lead the charge for an all-out civilian gun ban statewide and beyond.

One specific gun targeted by the anti-gunners of New York has been the FN Five Seven handgun, which is the centerpiece of an ongoing attempt to ban it. The charge, initiated by misinformation from the Brady Campaign, is being led in New York by the aforementioned politicians, like-minded district attorneys, and the news media of New York. But the media doesn't flat out lie, right? Or do they?

Case in point: On July 26, 2006 a story by the NY Times Ledger was run in print, and a similar story was aired by NY1 News, among other news media in New York, entitled "Cop Killer Gun Seized in Raid." The story made claims that FN's Five Seven handgun could "pierce 48 layers of bullet-proof Kevlar," was responsible for the following, "since 1994, 425 of the 616 police officers killed in the line of duty have been killed with a FN 5.7," and that the gun was responsible for "two-thirds of police officer deaths since 1994."

The first two quotes were noted in the story as coming from Queens DA Richard Brown, the latter were the words of Stephen Stirling, the author of the story, stated as fact. The problem with this story became apparent immediately-the statistics were simply made up. These reporters faked these stories.

First, the Five Seven cannot pierce 48 layers of bullet proof Kevlar. This is only possible using a special armor piercing ammunition called "SS190," which is illegal for civilian use and only lawful to possess by law enforcement agencies. This ammunition is strictly controlled by the BATFE, and the ammunition that is available for civilian use is similar in performance to any other legal caliber.

Second, the Five Seven is not responsible for one single law enforcement death on record in New York. The gun was not even introduced to the civilian market until 2004! How then could it have been killing police officers since 1994? It was an interesting question that I asked the author of the article, Stephen Stirling, in an e-mail. I asked him or the editor to provide the documented source of their statistics, I accused them of faking the story, and I challenged them to back up the story to their readers.

While the author or editors did not respond back to me, the editor of NY1 News did. In an e-mail reply to me, Mr. Paulus of VP News wrote:

Hello,

You are right. The statistics are wrong and we are removing the story
from our website. For what it's worth, the number were cited by Queens
D.A. Richard Brown at his press conference. The other information in
the story also came from the D.A. While we tend to give credit to law
enforcement sources for knowing what they are talking about, we should
have realized that the statistics didn't make any sense.

Thanks for the feedback.

Steve Paulus
VP, News


While he is passing the buck here a bit, since their write-up at times didn't cite the quotes as originating from the Queens DA, but rather printed it as fact, they did retract the article. The NY Times Ledger also retracted the article and published a correction in its place entitled, "Queens DA revises release about powerful handgun." According to the correction, in Queens DA Richard Brown's press conference, he claimed that it was a miscommunication and that it should have read, "425 officers were killed with a handgun, not with this handgun." Well...Mr. Brown made quite a mistake with his words there, if you believe that.

For the rest of us on Earth, Mr. Brown is a like-minded politician to the Chuck Schumers, Hillary Clintons, and Michael Bloombergs who are trying to ban this handgun by creating a mass hysteria. The problem with the focus on this particular handgun is that they are using it to begin an inch-their-way-to-an-outright-ban movement using the Five Seven as a symbol. This misinformation started with the Brady Campaign, and has been disseminated down the political chain of command to the anti-gun senators, governors, mayors, district attorneys, and police chiefs. Then the media will report the false statistics and outright lies, and when they are called on it, as was the case here, they simply pass the buck. Forget about a little thing called "research," I guess that's not offered in journalism school anymore.

The Five Seven is quite the contrary of what they make it out to be. What it is, is a sound choice for any law-abiding citizen looking for a well-rounded self-defense weapon, not the choice weapon of criminals and by no means a "cop killer." It is well suited for the professional marksman down to the widowed grandma living alone who desires self-protection. There are many factors that make the Five Seven an advantageous handgun over others. First, the weapon is very light and great for daily carry. Second, the magazine holds 20 rounds and the 5.7x28mm round travels at approximately 2050 FPS (using SS 195 ammunition), which is very fast for a handgun round.

The speed of the round rivals that of a rifle rather than a handgun, and most handguns don't have anywhere near the 20 round capacity. However, with that said, the round does not over-penetrate. It yaws upon impact, creating a huge wound channel and making it a great choice for defense in a civilian application where over-penetration may be an issue. Finally, one gets all of the aforementioned advantages, but with less recoil than a 9mm handgun! The recoil is very light and follow-up shots are very fast, unlike a larger caliber, making it ideal for anyone to use.

Additional Note from Medula Oblongata

I thank my friend Walter34Payton2002 for his time and effort in putting together this essay. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

I would also like to state that I personally own TWO FN Herstal Five-seveN pistols and use them on a daily basis for concealed carry. The light weight, high magazine capacity, extreme ease of use, controlability, and accuracy are not found on ANY other weapon currently on the market. I would highly recommend this "piece" for anyone needing the personal protection of a firearm but cannot handle the heavy reciol and weight of most modern weapons. My six and nine year old daughters LOVE shooting it...

MO