The Raw Story calls itself “a progressive news site that focuses on stories often ignored in the mainstream media.” But it apparently has a lot more in common with the mainstream media than it would care to admit. Namely, a penchant for ignoring facts.
A 3-year-old boy was killed when a pink handgun he and his 7-year-old sister were playing with went off. The Raw Story’s David Edwards saw this tragic death as a great opportunity to call attention to gun manufacturers’ attempts to appeal to women and children:
Pink handguns and Hello Kitty assault rifles have been part of an effort to get firearms in the hands of women and younger groups in recent years. In 2011, Arizona state Sen. Lori Klein (R) was criticized after she pointed her loaded raspberry-pink handgun at a reporter.
But in his haste to ghoulishly blame gun manufacturers, Edwards neglected to do his homework. You see, that “Hello Kitty assault rifles” hyperlink led to parody site GlamGuns.com. GlamGuns.com does not actually sell weapons. A quick glance at the disclaimer would’ve saved Edwards some embarrassment:
NOTE: This site is a parody for humor purposes only. No actual weapons may be bought on this site. “Hello Kitty” is a trademark of Sanrio, Inc. You’re taking the wrong drugs if you think that Sanrio would ever license the use of Hello Kitty for a firearm or weapon of any sort.
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Edwards — or one of his editors — eventually realized the mistake and swapped out the GlamGuns.com link for another one (naturally without using the word “correction”). Now, the hyperlink leads to a blog post showing a custom-made “Hello Kitty AR-15.” Yep. In late 2007, a man put together a Hello Kitty AR-15 for his wife — not for sale — to draw attention to California gun grabbers’ obsession with guns’ cosmetic features. The man was not a gun manufacturer, nor did he represent the firearms industry, yet The Raw Story insists that this blog post serves as irrefutable proof that Hello Kitty assault rifles have been part of a concerted effort to push firearms into the hands of women
Rotten move, Raw Story.
(Hat tip: Doug Duell.)
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