Jim Bequette, the editor of Guns & Ammo magazine, apologized to readers and resigned effective immediately after publishing a column that sought to "generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights," but all it did was enrage his readership, CNN reported. Bequette's decision to publish Dick Metcalf's commentary who wrote that he supported regulations on firearms, drew a nasty response from readers, news reports said.
"Way too many gun owners still seem to believe that any regulation of the right to keep and bear arms is an infringement... the fact is, all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be," Metcalf wrote in his column, which reportedly "aroused unprecedented controversy," according to CNN. Bequette also fired Metcalf who had written the Firearms Law column for Shooting Times, the magazine's sister publication.
"In publishing Metcalf's column, I was untrue to that tradition, and for that I apologize. I made a mistake by publishing the column. I thought it would generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights. I miscalculated, pure and simple. I was wrong, and I ask your forgiveness," " Bequette wrote in a column on Wednesday.
Eric R. Poole was announced as the new editor effective immediately. Poole had been expected to take over on January 1.
"Publishing Metcalf's back page read was like throwing a bucket of blood in shark infested waters, especially here in California. We are one step away from confiscation here as it is, and the anti 2A crowd will be further emboldened by this, especially from something as rock solid as Guns and Ammo. I sincerely hope we can recover from this, but in my state, the champagne corks are already popping," wrote Gary Graff on the magazine's Facebook page, as reported by CNN.
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