Where Did You Get That Idea?

Sometimes the stuff that comes out of Truth About Guns just boggles the mind. I have no idea how Robert Farago came to the conclusion that NRA was ripping gun bloggers a new one, but that was most decidedly not my takeaway from NRA press release, which seemed aimed more at the accusations of one Dudley Brown of National Association for Gun Rights, who has been spreading paranoid nonsense around the Internets in an attempt to derail the bill. This has been covered extensively here and elsewhere in gun circles. So I have no idea how TTAG came to characterize this as an attack on gun bloggers.

21 thoughts on “Where Did You Get That Idea?”

  1. Indeed. The amount of anti-822 FUD from our own side is disgusting. The 14th Amendment just seems beyond the grasp of gun owners…

    -Gene

  2. Farago could care less about guns or gun rights. What he cares about is getting free stuff from the industry, and ad revenue on his blog.

    The former is accomplished by using SEO and ripping off the works of popular bloggers, as well and offering to anybody he can get an email from a job writing post for him so he can keep articles at the top.

    And the latter is being inflammatory without any cause or reason. He’s written about each side of every issue, generally taking the most inflammatory side he can (Like saying Open Carry people should spend time in jail and lose their rights…but then being pro OC when he steals another blogger’s story on an OC Demonstration or police injustice. Another great example was a recent article blaming a gun owner who was robbed for not taking enough steps to secure his gun collection)

    Hell Robert currently has former drug dealer Mike Bonomo (Mikeb302000) writing for him. What does that tell you?

    1. Whoa. Back up a moment.

      1. I am a firm supporter of the 2a. Always have been. Always will be. I believe all Americans should have a right to keep and bear arms. Period. I have never written a word to the contrary.

      2. TTAG is not even self-sufficient yet. I’ve run the website at a loss for coming up to two years because I believe in our mission statement: tell the truth about guns.

      3. We do not rip off SEO. In a previous run-in about an unofficial boycott of TTAG by other firearms websites, Weer’d pointed out a post where we had scraped the whole article from another site. It was an inadvertent mistake by one of my authors. I apologized, published a retraction and did my best to make good.

      4. TTAG produces more original gun related content than any other firearms related site in the world. Over 8000 words per day: news, reviews and editorials. I read/edit every single word for accuracy and literacy. I do the best I can and when I get it wrong I make amends.

      5. I am ALWAYS looking for new voices for the site. I frequently find writers in the comments section. I invite people to write for us. I use articles from other sites WITH PERMISSION.

      6. TTAG is not a pro gun rights echo chamber. I welcome all points of view and only edit comments when they flame the website, writers or fellow commentators.

      7. I never said Open Carry people should spend time in jail and lose their rights. Nor have I published an article that had that perspective. Although I would if it were submitted, so that pro-open carry gun rights advocates (of which I’m one) could address the author’s points.

      8. I have published a piece by MikeB302000. I would publish another piece by him if he submitted it. Any belief worth having is worth challenging. What harm does it do to have a civilized forum for pro and anti-gun rights advocates to debate the issues?

      TTAG is a popular blog because all of our writers work hard to make it so. We have cut no corners and taken no short cuts. When we make mistakes—as we do—we put it right. Fair enough?

  3. I got it wrong. The NRA was attacking gun rights groups. I’ve corrected the text and noted the mistake at the bottom of the post. Thanks for keeping me honest. And it was an honest mistake.

  4. Wait, Robert Farago link baiting for hits by ginning up a false controversy? No way! Next you’ll be telling me that all he’s really trying to do is build a really popular site so he can monetize it and sell it the same way he did the Truth About Cars!

  5. “The NRA was attacking gun rights groups.” [Robert Farago]

    I thought they are burning babies on a stake. Maybe that headline will get you guys a few more hits.

  6. “I use articles from other sites WITH PERMISSION.”

    Like that time you used my copyrighted photo and tam’s entire post WITH PERMISSION? I remember it as clearly as that time it never happened.

    1. I’ve already acknowledged that mistake. If you look at the thousands of posts we’ve generated over the last 18 months or so, you’ll see that we keep well within the boundaries of fair use. Nobody’s perfect, but we do our best to inform, entertain and educate while maintaining the highest possible journalistic ethics. I always remain open to the possibility that I’m wrong and the certainty that I can do better. More than that I cannot do.

      1. That line would work a hell of a lot better if you hadn’t done it again within hours of posting it.

  7. Farago, frankly you’ve not improved your reputation with half-baked articles and whining about a nonexistent “boycott”.

    Its only made me wish there was a real one.

  8. And he just lifted another post-picture and used it to fan the flames of his blogreaders… Too bad that Instapundit keeps linking to him.

  9. Yeah, the only traffic he gets from me is when I click on an Instapundit link to him too quickly, before I notice that its TTAG.

    I’ll try to be more careful in the future.

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