The members of the mainstream media demonstrate their firearm ignorance on a regular basis, but every once in a while they get caught circulating a total fabrication.<\/p>\n
The latest example comes from “USA Today,” whose fine journalists developed and posted a video ostensibly covering the firearm used by the Texas church shooter.<\/p>\n
\nA look at the gun used in the Texas church shooting. https:\/\/t.co\/xdxIf5fR77<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/sUY1mCCLZC<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 USA TODAY (@USATODAY) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The video begins with a prime piece of investigative journalism, outlining \u201cWHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE RUGER AR-556.\u201d The presentation doesn\u2019t cover any components that make Ruger\u2019s AR-15 unique, but it does highlight the buttstock, the sights, the 30-round magazine, and the trigger.<\/p>\n
SEE ALSO:\u00a0Texas Hero Speaks Out About Stopping Church Shooter with AR-15<\/a><\/h2>\n
Then the video takes a turn for the (even more) hilarious. In an apparent attempt to make the Ruger AR-556 as terrifying as possible, USA Today covers several \u201cpossible modifications,\u201d including a trigger crank, an \u201cunderbarrel 12-ga. shotgun,\u201d and something they call a \u201cchainsaw bayonet.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s this last piece of fiction that blew up Twitter. Responses ranged from disgust to mockery. A journalist named Stephen Gutowski wondered how long he\u2019ll survive in this kind of journalistic environment.<\/p>\n
\nThis crap is going to put me in an early grave. For the love of God… pic.twitter.com\/VkuoGzMkX3<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nIn case you need this fact check: No, there’s no commercially available “chainsaw bayonet” for the AR-15.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Others took USA Today\u2019s brilliant idea and developed even more creative ways to improve upon it.<\/p>\n
\nAre you sure the weapon didn’t look more like this? pic.twitter.com\/MO4zNNz1iB<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Jacob Smyth\ud83c\udf2a\ufe0f (@JacobMyth) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nSensible gun control is needed. pic.twitter.com\/e1MVXvj9cf<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Lone Conservative (@LoConservative) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nOr this? pic.twitter.com\/z6RTFPaLGd<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Jacob Smyth\ud83c\udf2a\ufe0f (@JacobMyth) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The NRA\u2019s Dana Loesch hypothesized as to the attachment\u2019s origin.<\/p>\n
\nThese are from the Great Lumberjack War pic.twitter.com\/MtUFp9GRtR<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And Jordan Stein noted the fictional world in which this fictional attachment could be useful.<\/p>\n
\nThis “chainsaw bayonet” looks like something out of the Walking Dead, not reality. https:\/\/t.co\/iUbcr5a9zD<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Jordan Stein (@jordankstein) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
USA Today seems to have noticed the mockery, but the video\u2019s creators aren\u2019t backing down from their claims. The same day they posted the original video, they offered this \u201cclarification.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTo clarify, the video shows both the shooter\u2019s modifications, as well as other possible modifications. The shooter did not use a chainsaw bayonet.<\/p>\n
\u2014 USA TODAY (@USATODAY) November 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Possible? Maybe. But to include a \u201cchainsaw bayonet\u201d alongside other legitimate, commercially available AR attachments reveals the video\u2019s true intention: fearmongering.<\/p>\n