Recently a friend showed me a digital copy of Recoil magazine. The first thing I thought was: "Why haven't I heard of this before?" Well it is a new magazine that has only been running over the last couple of months. Recoil details guns, knives, outdoor gear and even trucks and ATVs. Basically anything that us firearms enthusiasts find interesting, since it may not seem like it to some people, but we are a multifaceted bunch who enjoy a variety of things, including reading, a skill that many anti-gun people seem to lack.
The controversy:
Anyway, browsing the four issues of Recoil I was impressed and found it to be an excellent read, until stumbling upon their extremely detailed breakdown of the Heckler and Koch MP7. Now the article pertaining to the MP7 was well written and informative however later on the editor, Jerry Tsai, launched into a very anti-gun statement using all the typical buzzwords we see in poorly constructed, unfounded and shortsighted anti gun literature. Basically the gist of it is, the MP7 is a gun with no sporting purpose, it can penetrate armour, and as such, us law abiding citizens shouldn't be able to own one yet the Police and Military should be toting them around, you know for all the subjects they encounter who wear armour....which according to H&K and, well anyone else who's made a scary armour penetrating gun claim, happens quite a bit. I have no data related to criminal use of body armour to counter that argument, however, like many things in the firearms world I'm willing to bet most of that claim comes from the marketing department. That's obviously open to debate and anyone with data to share is more than welcome to point me in the right direction.
Now some people might wonder why readers are making such a big deal over it. Well as firearms enthusaists quite obviously the anti-gun rhetoric gets on our nerves. We are bombarded from all angles about what horrible people we are because we own a compilation of metal and wood that launches a small piece of metal. We are told that we are "evil" "scary" "crazy" and all the other idiotic, unfounded bullshit that comes with being a responsible person who owns something. When a shooter reads a periodical related to firearms, we feel a sense of freedom, like when a car enthusiast goes to a track-day and they've entered a world where they can say "turbo-charger" without looking like an idiot. Like when a photography nut is in an environment where they can say "telephoto" and not have everyone think of their piece-of-shit camera in their phone ("cuz like telephoto means like iphone camera rite?"). Like when a hipster goes to a trendy coffee shop and says "grant-money" without everyone within 15 feet thinking "societal leech". When we open up a gun magazine we want to see articles written by like-minded people and coming across phrases like "no sporting purpose" being used literally, well, as the English would say "gets on our tits." Also another problem with article such as these in firearms periodicals is they slant outsider perspectives of the firearms enthusiast world, and quite literally, with this article Recoil has given potential ammunition for the anti-gun proponents. There is a very high chance that we'll see this issue of Recoil being cited as to why fancy metric rounds are evil to tune of logic like this: "LOOK DIS MAGAZINE CALLED RECOIL DUN SAID ITS BAD AND LIK DEY REVIEW LOTS OF SCARY GUNZ AND STUFF! SO LIKE EVEN DEY KNO DEY SHULDNT HAVE IT, I DON'T UNDERSTAND MATH!!!!!111"
My take:
Recoil has lost a lot of support over this one article. Allegedly advertisers are backing out of marketing deals, people are dropping their subscriptions and writing, upset, saddened, or angry (humorous but angry) posts on Recoil's facebook page. I'm somewhere in the middle. I do not agree at all with the editors statements that the MP7 has no sporting purpose, nor do I agree with his statement that the MP7 should be limited to military and police sales. I don't agree with these statements simply because quite frankly the MP7 is a firearm that could be used for target shooting, and if H&K's data and for that matter, Recoil Magazine's data is accurate, well, the MP7 would make an excellent target shooting pistol or short rifle depending on what configuration the shooter chooses. The fact the MP7's proprietary 4.6x30mm rounds can penetrate armour is an asinine reason to prohibit sales to civilians. There are quite a few rounds available to civilians that can already penetrate armour since body armour is not a 100% safeguard against incoming fire. Certain types of body armour are only rated for particular rounds and even enough of said particular rounds will chip away and degrade the armour plate's effectiveness leading to penetration once the integrity of the plate is lost.
The outsider perspective: (IE I DON'T LIKE GUNZ AND BECAUSE I WATCH TOO MANY MOVIES I THINK DAT BULLET PROOF VESTS MAKE BULLETS BOUNCE OFF YOU WITH NO TRANSFER OF ENERGY) is why firearms such as the MP7 get banned from civilian ownership. Just look at the FN Five-SeveN controversy a few years ago, it was so evil and we couldn't own one because we're gonna end up poping people left-right and center and the magical bullet proof vests lose their elven properties when hit with the 5.7 mm round. Despite the fact we could still own P-90s.......................which use the same round FYI. Ever heard of a hunting rifle? Any rifle used for hunting will penetrate and transfer more energy than a 5.7mm round and same goes for the 4.6x30mm round from the MP7. If you actually understand math and look at the data, the 5.7mm and 4.6mm rounds really aren't all that scary and look like an excellent application for target shooting and lawful defence. I'm not really much of a defence writer, but I will comment on this: H&K and FN both claim that there is a mass proliferation of body armour by our criminal classes. Look at it this way, Police officers are for some reason seen in a different light. Many people have the realities of Policing compartmentalized into its own world. Well, Police operations happen on your street, they arrest and confront the criminals with body armour on your block, in your city, in your bank, and unfortunately, I hope it never happens to anyone but, they might, and you might have to confront one of these armed and dangerous men in your home! So, if FN and H&K are correct in that these armed criminals are wearing body armour, perhaps you might need a firearm capable of penetrating it. If the Police need a firearm capable of putting a body armour clad offender down, you might need one too; since we walk passed the same people the Police do, we walk down the same streets they patrol and we walk passed the same buildings they raid. You may not be a police officer, may not have ever thought of being one and may even hate the police, but the fact remains, you're in the exact same area, the exact same reality they are!
Like I said, I don't agree with Jerry Tsai's comments however, I believe that Mr. Tsai is a passionate firearms enthusiast and if people would get over themselves and understand the personal sacrifice he has undertaken in the wake of this controversy, I believe he deserves a thumbs up. Given our shared passion for firearms I'm sure myself and most other firearms enthusiasts could see eye-to-eye on most things and enjoy talking about guns and shooting with Mr. Tsai. But one thing that some people in the shooting community are forgetting Jerry Tsai is a person not a corporate entity, he has the right to form his own opinion whether you agree with it or not. I respect and understand Jerry's opinion on the MP7, I simply don't agree with him and I'm not looking forward to how other media outlets may use his words as weapons against our community.
Jerry Tsai has posted a formal apology on Recoil's website and has stepped down from his chair as editor. A very honourable move, which should be commended. He took the responsibility for his actions in a move that I happen to think was a little extreme, but it shows that Mr. Tsai cares what readers think, and wants to see Recoil grow even if he's not at the helm.
Bottom Line:
I will continue to support Recoil magazine in the future. Aside from the anti comments regarding the MP7 I have enjoyed reading Recoil and look forward to coming issues. I hope that the new editor will take caution in his or her writings and also, hopefully the new editor will bring Jerry Tsai's attention to readers and integrity to the magazine. I'd also like to comment that not a single journalist, editor, anchor or writer from the anti-gun side has made a similar move to my knowledge and recollection. If they make a mistake they might (and that's a big might, they usually just shut up for three days) do a 45 second apology and continue on as usual. This shows the integrity of gun people, we face our consequences, anti-gun people...not so much.......
