Bad news from the Indianapolis Star

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Kcustom45

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I was flipping through the classifieds Indianapolis Star the other day at school and I came to the gun section. There was only one ad there and it was from the editors.

Here is the ad exactly as it appears in the Indianapolis Star.


"Notice to Readers" GUN POLICY

It is the policy of the Indianapolis Star to only accept gun advertisements from FFL license holders, licensed auctioneers, gun shows adhering to local laws and persons with type III (Curios and Relics) FFL licenses. All other gun advertisements will not be accepted. Please have your FFL License number ready to be verified when placing your ad.

This kind of crap really upsets me. And to think I used to like the Star
 
Sounds like CYA to me, unless they can be guaranteed protection from lawsuit. Maybe they need to get behind the senate bill, eh?
 
I think I would be sending a letter to the Advertising Editor:

It is my policy NOT to do Business with ANTI-SECOND AMENDMENT SOCIALIST WEASELS.

Of course, a bit more restraint is in order, but you get the gist of it.
 
Drop your subscription with a letter telling them why.

Notice that they don't limit cars for sale ads to only dealers, lest someone without a license buy a car and kills someone with it, so that rationale won't fly.
 
Here is an interesting article that was published in the Star from about 2 years ago.

Group seeks ban on sales of guns in classified ads

By Vic Ryckaert
[email protected]
June 27, 2002 A gun safety advocacy group wants Indiana newspapers to ban classified ads selling firearms. Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence calls the sale of guns through the newspaper a "loophole" in the laws regulating firearm sales because private sellers are not required to follow waiting periods or conduct background checks on buyers, which licensed dealers must do.

"Like the gun-show loophole, the newspaper loophole allows felons, domestic abusers, minors and other persons in prohibited categories to buy firearms," said Robin Olds-Stackhouse, the group's executive director. In a study released Tuesday, the group found that 14 of 18 Indiana newspapers surveyed, including The Star, allow people to sell guns via the classifieds. The group surveyed 282 papers nationwide; 65 had total bans and 63 only allowed ads for rifles and shotguns. Olds-Stackhouse said there is no way to know how many guns are sold this way. The group reports that papers in Huntington, Jeffersonville, Kokomo and Lafayette prohibit classified ads for guns; three papers allow ads for the sale of rifles and shotguns only; 11 papers, including The Star, have no prohibitions. Brian Priester, the Star's vice president for market development, said requests to ban some advertising are not uncommon, but a change in the paper's guidelines is unlikely. "Our policy is to allow legal products to be advertised," Priester said. "We have been asked to ban advertising for liquor, beer, cigarettes and underwear. All of these products are legal, as are guns. If any of these products are made illegal, we will not allow them to be advertised."

Thanks to www.BenSwenson.com for the article.
 
There has to be a lawyer slithering around the front office.

Could be they want to do things by the legal numbers. If so point out to the private transfers are still legal, then recite the appropriate law code.

OR

They are giving in to anti-gun advocacy groups.

Let them tell you which, then make your decision to continue business accordingly.

Confront 'em.
 
the ironic twist is, the number assigned to the gun section of thier classified used to be 357, back when I lived there a few years ago.
 
I'm trying to follow up on this. When I get some info from them, I'll cross-post it here.
 
Quoted directly from the paper:

"The Baltimore Sun does not accept ads for guns or gun shows"


This is why I won't subscribe, or even register on their website.
 
Sad, sad showing from a previously conservative, gun-toting state. :(

But it says it will accept a classified ad from a licensed auctioneer? Does somehow getting an auctioneers license somehow allow them to sell guns across state lines without having an FFL? Not trying to be a smart patootie, but I never knew that having an auctioneers license exempted one from holding an FFL.

To those of you not from around these parts, there's allegations of an ongoing situation of buying guns in Indiana then taking them up to Chicago to constitutionally but illegally sell to residents up there. I'm sure it happens every month, but I wonder how much pressure the paper has received in relation to that that has led to this.
 
The Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Morning Snooze...er News have both stopped allowing gun classifieds. Surprisingly the supposedly-liberal Austin American Statesman has resisted pressure and continues to allow gun ads.

brad cook
 
the journal&courier in Lafayette, In quit accepting firearm classifieds 2 yrs ago.



but luckily, they still run gun show ads!:D



go figure.
 
Dallas Morning News did the same thing, for handguns only. I dropped them and wrote them a letter, but of course nothing changed.
 
The Evansville Courier and Press still accepts classifieds for firearms even though the editor is a staunch proponent of 'reasonable' gun laws.
 
From: [email protected]
To: Ben Swenson

Dear Mr. Swenson,

Thank you for your feedback. The Indianapolis Star recent editorial policy outlined the misuse of firearms that were illegally obtained and put in the hands of criminals. Unfortunately the newspaper classifieds played a role
in linking criminals with firearms that under law they were not allowed to own. One of the issues was the lack of a background check on those individuals who worked through the private party channels in the newspaper. This lead to our change in policy on firearm advertising.

We felt that it would be hypocritical to call for background checks in an editorial, and then allow the commercial activity that did not provide for background checks. It was a difficult decision for us to make and implement. We are monitoring current feedback and will continue to evaluate our policy.

Thank you for your comments.

Sincerely,

Peter Ricker
Vice President of Advertising
The Indianapolis Star
 
"Our policy is to allow legal products to be advertised," Priester said. "We have been asked to ban advertising for liquor, beer, cigarettes and underwear. All of these products are legal, as are guns. If any of these products are made illegal, we will not allow them to be advertised."

Clearly, when underwear is outlawed, only outlaws will have underwear!

So if the paper says that by barring the advertising of a firearm for sale to another private individual (which I thought is legal) then that will keep gang-bangers from selling guns to other gang-bangers? And I would never be able to buy a gun from my next door neighbor because he has no way to advertise it for sale?

I can just see the "Garage Sale" type signs go up in the neighborhood that says "Guns for sale".
 
Also happened down here in the free state of Florida. Sarasota paper did it last year. But they still take GunShow ads, & there's a little weekly paper that now carries gun ads.
 
Thankfully, the Arizona Republic allows anyone to freely post firearms and knife classifieds... hell, there's even somebody trying to unload a .50 BMG Barrett right now.
 
Quoted directly from the paper:

"The Baltimore Sun does not accept ads for guns or gun shows"
Click to expand...
Spot, I actually remember back in middle school (early '80s) reading the classifieds and looking at the guns section and drooling over the ads thinking "someday". Then a few years later the Sun banned the ads. Today, I don't think there is a newpaper in MD in which you can shop for or advertise a gun for sale. However, I kind of expect that in a liberal state like MD, coming out of IN, TX and FL it is quite surprising and disheartening.
 
Another local paper here 'NUVO" took the same stand.It kills me they"NUVO"runs a truck load of smut sex ads.Lets face it,sex kills alot more folks than guns in todays times.
Thanks for the info,i'll cancel my scrip and email them why i did.
 
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