Rare Positive Gun Article

[ColinthePilot]

I found this in my inbox from Military.com. Its a politically neutral article about the FAL and its history. It only uses the term "Assault Rifle" one time, but uses it correctly referring to the AK-47, which we all know, in its military form does have a selector.

http://www.military.com/news/article/the-ultimate-battle-rifle.html?ESRC=dod.nl

 

[Jason_G]

Sounds like the author is trying to defend the FAL against the M14. Wonder what's up with that.... seriously.

Jason

 

[Slamfire]

Well the FAL is history now. It was an excellent rifle. The cartridge was abandoned by the US (as a rifle cartridge) within four years of adoption. And the rifle is expensive to build. And the last point, more than any other, is why it is not coming back as service issue.

 

[ColinthePilot]

I was just impressed that the article wasn't hard anti-gun, and that it was actually written above a 3rd grade level. Military journalism is not known for quality writing, or neutrality. The last article I read in a military publication that had anything to do with guns was a Navy Times piece written on gun safety, and just told a bunch of negative stories about servicemembers that privately own weapons and have been hurt by them.

 

[Jason_G]

I was just impressed that the article wasn't hard anti-gun, and that it was actually written above a 3rd grade level. Military journalism is not known for quality writing, or neutrality. The last article I read in a military publication that had anything to do with guns was a Navy Times piece written on gun safety, and just told a bunch of negative stories about servicemembers that privately own weapons and have been hurt by them.

Oh, well, I guess being a civie, I didn't quite get the import of the article. I didn't realize that the military journal articles were like that. So what is the usual tone of a military journal article?

Jason

 

[ColinthePilot]

Oh, well, I guess being a civie, I didn't quite get the import of the article. I didn't realize that the military journal articles were like that. So what is the usual tone of a military journal article?

Military.com seems to have some halfway decent writers, but the individual branch newspapers (Air Force Times, Navy Times, etc) are generally poorly written. Base newspapers generally follow that curve, prompting most of us to skip directly to the crossword puzzle and the classifieds(some of the best writing in the paper).

To keep it gun related, the military is very strict on guns, whether they're privately owned or they're government property. When I lived on base, I had to store my guns in the armory, till I found a friend to keep them with off base. Permanent Party (I was just in training) is allowed to keep them in their house on base, but they must be registered with Security Forces. Most (if not all) bases prohibit anyone, civilians included, from carrying or even keeping a gun in their car. So we don't even have protection on the way to and from work. Its a little frustrating that they trust me with a multi-million dollar airplane, but not a $350 handgun.