The announcement that Jerry Tsai, former Editor of Recoil Magazine, has stepped down certainly opens the door for them to rebuild their advertising base. But, the question still remains, will the change in leadership bring a strong message to young gun owners that the fundamental reason to own a firearm is personal, home and (in the worst case) National Defense ?
Let’s hope so.
Keep in mind that this week’s conversations, and the many that will be had about Recoil Magazine in the near and (possibly) far future, really revolved not around one man, but around large issues that affect each and every gun owner. The issue is “Why is it okay that we owns firearms?”
At the end of the day, there really should not be any reason that someone claims, short of the intent to harm another human being outside of defensive action, that anyone should consider wrong. There are many types of guns that we, as individuals, may not like. There are many reasons for owning guns that we, as individuals, may not want to list as our own. Fundamentally, I believe that defense is the primary best reason for firearms to exist and to be owned. I firmly believe that a constitutional interpretation of the right to own firearms is based on defense.
The reason I was personally so invested in the discussion this week was not to see one man replaced. It was to ensure that any voice of leadership in this industry at least agrees that our RKBA should not be legally restricted and that there is no absolutely such thing as a reasonable restriction to the rights of responsible, sane and law abiding person to own firearms.
Certainly, we may not always agree on the best choices for defense, the best ways to exercise our rights or even, believe it or not, the best caliber for any given purpose… but, on the issue of Zero Tolerance for Restrictions, we must be united.
I wish Recoil Magazine, and Jerry Tsai, good luck in rebuilding so long as they do so with a stronger sense of the importance of instilling these principles in the young, enthusiastic gun owners that they reaching… and anyone else who is listening.
-Rob Pincus
-I.C.E. Training Company
Tags: Recoil, Rob Pincus
That pretty much sums it all up.
Thank you Rob. Lets be specific. At the end of the day we need to support the understanding that our 2A rights are about defense against the Homo Sapiens species, with regard to the rest of our constitutional freedoms, and not anything else. SSD has a very concise understanding. Every one should do their own research into this comprehension to understand where the founders came from with the 2A. Research every founding father of the constitution and their published works for a complete understanding of what America is about. This is the only way for us as a community to move forward and get on the same page. This is not about cool weapons, it is about securing our essential freedoms.
Mr. Pincus
This has been blown enitrely out of proportion. Polarization and division is not what we need in this community. Jerry Tsai and his associates put out the only worthwhile firearms magazine I’ve read. Everything else is completeyly second rate and full of shit. No other magazine included articles on subjects such as working with kydex or do your own stippling, instead other publications just put out “buy our shit.” On top of this, a man had to step away from something he created and was raked over the coals over a damn paragraph. Completely unacceptable and unprofessional. It seems like some of us 2nd ammendment junkies need to remember the 1st ammendment. Jerry Tsai has the right to say or write whatever the fuck he wants. And the fact that people have attacked Mr. Tsai personally and forced his resignation over a negligible paragraph is absolutely rediculous. I’ve never posted anything on a site like this before, but the fact is that the 2nd ammendment group acted like a bunch of bullies and destroyed this man over nothing. Major ball drop guys. Can’t wait to read next months Soldier of Fortune, what a joke.
Soldier of Fortune as a firearms magazine? I know they don’t parrot antigun nonsense like a “sporting purpose” though.
The first amendment protects our speech but doesn’t protect us from being accountable to folks for what we say. Many here have and continue to fight for Mr. Tsai’s right to freely express whatever he wants and ignorantly put his foot in his mouth as much as he wants. We don’t have to support the content of his speech when it goes against what we believe and works to erode our liberties. The first amendment also does not protect our jobs from epic lapses in basic journalistic or personal integrity.
The first amendment does not mean we are above criticism nor does being a unique firearm publication. Recoil may have great, interesting articles. It might be doing good riding the new wave of firearm interest to reach out to a younger audience. We don’t have to support with our dollars or favor the pouring of political, antigun Newspeak into our heads or the impressionable heads of those just getting into firearms and shooting sports.
We take this shit, our liberties seriously. There is an honor roll of good people and companies now that have demanded that other folks in the industry take it just as seriously.
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – English writer Beatrice Hall, pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre, in “The Friends of Voltaire” (1906)
“Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.” -Voltaire in “Essays on Tolerance” (1764)