"Not a six-shooter. Six guns"

Join the NRA today. Why? Because the liberal media continues its all-out assault on our 2nd Amendment rights, and they won't be satisfied until they're successful in totally banning private ownership of firearms.

Today's reporting on the charges against Chicago Bears defensive lineman "Tank" Johnson is a great case-in-point.

In its story, the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

• "[A] police SWAT team stormed his home Thursday in north suburban Gurnee and seized* six guns."
• "The guns -- which included two military-style assault weapons -- were found in several rooms of the two-story brick home on a secluded side street. A variety of ammunition also was found in the home ... ."

The uber-liberal Chicago Tribune said:

• "A cache of unregistered guns and assault rifles—some loaded—was found Thursday inside the home of Bears defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson when Gurnee police raided his house ... ."
• "The weapons seized during the raid included a .44 magnum Smith&Wesson revolver, a .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun, a .45 caliber handgun, a .308 caliber Winchester rifle and two assault-style rifles—a Colt AR-15 and a .223 caliber."

In a separate article, a Tribune sports columnist makes the smarmy comment:

"We all make mistakes in life, especially when we're young and full of whatever it is that makes humans do stupid things.

But youthful indiscretion doesn't explain why Gurnee police found six weapons inside the home of Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson when they raided it Thursday. Not a six-shooter. Six guns, including some assault rifles. You never know when you're going to need to protect yourself against roving hordes of pillagers."

Overlooked or buried beneath all this hysteria are some simple facts.

1. It is not illegal to own a gun; in fact, it is not illegal to own more than one gun. So, comments like "not a six-shooter, six guns" is nothing more than prejudiced fear mongering -- "Gee, if he has more than one gun, he must be a dangerous lunatic". The same with the "assault-style" rifles. A rifle is a rifle; but, try asking a liberal what an "assault rifle" is, much less what an "assault-style rifle" is, and watch for an angry snarl or a blank stare. "Assault Rifle" is a term coined by liberals to make rifles with certain features sound dangerous.
2. Tank Johnson was arrested, not because he had these weapons (all of which are completely legal to own), or because he had a "variety of ammunition" (if you have different weapons, you need different ammo (duh)); Johnson was arrested because he didn't have an Illinois F.O.I.D. card. A F.O.I.D. card is required in Illinois for just about anything having to do with firearms. If you want to go to the gun range, you need a F.O.I.D. card; if you want to buy ammo, you need a F.O.I.D. card; if you want to look at a gun at Bass Pro Shop, you need a F.O.I.D. card. So Johnson was arrested for ignorance -- he neglected to fill out a form and pay the State of Illinois the $5 fee for a F.O.I.D. card. The penalty for this terrible crime is a small fine.
   

Despite being an integral part of the tremendously popular Bears team, Johnson is finding out that being a sports celebrity is no help when you run afoul of one of the sacraments of the liberal media -- we don't like people who own guns and will trash and smear gun owners wherever and whenever possible.

* these words and phrases are great examples of agenda-driven journalism. "Seized" sounds much better than "confiscated"; "cache" sounds much better than "collection"; and, never letting facts get in the way of their agenda, the reports tell us that these were "unregistered" guns -- however, guns do not need to be registered.