The New York Times ran a column on February 9, 2018, suggesting Ruger Firearms would be pro-gun control if founder William B. Ruger Sr. was still alive.
To bolster this claim they published a “proposal,” circa 1989, and attributed it to Mr. Ruger via a link to a news story that said Ruger execs were, at that time, expressing a willingness to limit ammunition magazines to 15 rounds (versus 20 or 30).
The story provides no context for the proposal but does show that numerous other members of the gun industry were outraged by it.
The lack of context is exasperated by the fact that the February 9 NYT column goes on to use quotes from William B. Ruger Sr. and William B. Ruger Jr. interchangeably, seemingly unaware that they are quoting different people.
For example, they began with Ruger Sr.’s alleged 1989 “proposal” to voluntarily limit magazine capacity to 15 rounds and couple it with Ruger Jr.’s 1994 statement that certain magazines were only offered to law enforcement. They never differentiate between Sr. and Jr. and they omit Jr.’s unwavering anti-gun control sentiment.
Case in point, they quote Ruger Jr.’s statement on magazines only offered to law enforcement but pass over him saying, “The people who focus on gun control have got it all wrong. They are frustrated—we all are frustrated—but the quick fix they want just doesn’t exist. They need to face reality. Criminals will always get guns.” They also passed over his statement that “America is a place of great diversity, and the gun industry is especially diverse and individualistic. People do their own thing. In any case, in this country you have the constitutional right to make a gun and to buy a gun, however it’s made. That’s not debatable.”
The NYT also failed note Ruger Jr. saying, “Of course we’re concerned any time one of our guns shows up on a crime report. But passing more gun laws is not going to stop such crime or criminals. As long as criminals are around, they’ll have guns.”
The February 9 piece rests on two statements—one from Ruger Sr. and one from Ruger Jr.—both of which are attributed to Ruger Sr. and both of which are presented while ignoring the overwhelming body of anti-gun control statements made by Ruger Jr.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.