Accuracy needed when reporting about guns

The Jan. 10 article on Bartlett resident Tony Johnson, who was convicted of gun violations, was misleading. Legal gun owners condemn Mr. Johnson’s actions, but he did not have any machine guns.

Machine guns are fully automatic, continuous fire weapons, usually large enough to require a physical support. A rifle which must be converted to fire automatically (which is a federal crime) as stated in the article is not a machine gun, any more than your Grandmother’s Chevy Impala is a NASCAR racer just because Danica Patrick drives one in the Daytona 500. Real machine guns have been effectively banned since 1934. The ones that do exist are very expensive (upward of $20,000) and require special federal permits. For all practical purposes, you cannot buy one in a gun shop, at a gun show or online.

There is a lot of misinformation about modern rifles being put out, some of it deliberately intended to frighten people. The Daily Herald has a responsibility to provide accurate information, and not unduly sensationalize the news.

Jim Hall

Bartlett