Yesterday’s NYT ran an article about conflicted gun owners, “For Some, Owning Guns Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Liking Them“.
The article leads off with Michael Kundu:
Mr. Kundu is a master marksman from rural Washington who owns pistols and assault rifles for self-defense, all while claiming to detest the presence of guns in his life and in the broader American culture.
More:
In Mr. Kundu’s case, the conflict is that he enjoys competitive shooting even as he perceives danger in what he describes as a local arms race that he feels powerless to escape.
I would have gone after this story yesterday, but I didn’t for two reasons. I was out and about much of the day, and Sebastian already did.
You see, there’s no evidence that Kundu is a competitive shooter:
Kundu claims to be a master marksman in Washington State. The governing body for that kind of shooting is the NRA or WSRPA. Most competitive shooters will have match results online somewhere, especially at that level. So I decided I would start digging. If he is truly ranked Master in high-power, someone should have heard of him, or shot with him, and there should be a record. When you do that kind of competition, and are ranked highly, you’ve shot with an awful lot of people in an awful lot of matches. I couldn’t find any match results indicating this guy is a serious competitor, but what I did find destroys the whole NYT narrative.
Yeah, it gets better. Kundu is also involved with the Sea Shepherd people. You know, the anti-whaling activists? The ones that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals calls “pirates”?
There’s more over at Shall Not Be Questioned, including what it really takes to get a handgun in California. (Hint: it isn’t easier than getting a iPhone, unless you’re a lying liar who lies, like John Flores and Patricia Speed.) I encourage you to go read the whole thing. My hope is that Sebastian has made the NYT public editor aware of Susan Saulny’s dishonesty; not that I think it will matter much, but I haven’t had all hope beaten out of me yet.