Philly columnist buys AR-15

A columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer went to a gun shop in Philly and bought an AR-15 in seven minutes. It wasn't inexpensive.

My thought: Was she able to put that on an expense account? (I'm not trying to be flippant or get into any discussion about guns or how easily they might be obtained. I'm truly curious. That's a big chunk of change to spend out of your own pocket for the sake of one column.)

I bought an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in Philly in 7 minutes

 

Hopefully she sent the bill to Tim Kawakami.

 

Maybe she's loaning it to the ad sales department to help close deals.

 

And then she goes and turns it into the cops, essentially flushing almost $800 down the toilet.
Which means one of three things:
1) She's as stupid as the premise of her column
2) She's claiming it on an expense account, and the company paid for it.
3) She's writing it off as a business expense, which means the rest of the American taxpayers get to pay for it.

 

Yes, the company would absolutely be paying for it.

 

There's a state east of PA, where it's close to impossible for a civilian to get a carry permit. Is anyone naive enough to believe you can't illegally purchase an AR in about the same as this reporter legally purchased one?

 

Factual error in her story -- the Orlando murderer didn't use an AR-15.

 

Minor detail. Let's amend the Constitution first, then iron out the technicalities.

 

So let's break this down ...
1) She walks into the store, knows exactly what she wants, and is amazed that someone is attentive to their customers and can immediately assist them with such a purchase.
2) Is amazed that the computerized background check is efficient enough to be run and returned on a person with a presumably clean record in a matter of minutes -- like it's supposed to be.
3) Even though she is not a criminal, she treats the entire purchase of a completely legal product like she's buying plutonium and then is surprised that it's really just a regular transaction.
4) Drops $800 on a gun and then -- instead of returning it to the store because she changed her mind -- immediately turns it in to police because guns are icky.
5) Turns in an expense report that, if there's any justice in this world, HR will use the "You've gotta be fucking kidding me" bright red rejection stamp on.

 

Meanwhile, traveling to Philadelphia for an easy and factually inaccurate "The AR-15 is scary!" column seems to be a popular thing to do today.

Firing an AR-15 is horrifying, menacing and very very loud

The AR-15 does not have a fully automatic mode. It's also got a recoil that's surprisingly light when you shoot it.

 

"The recoil bruised my shoulder. The brass shell casings disoriented me as they flew past my face. The smell of sulfur and destruction made me sick. The explosions — loud like a bomb — gave me a temporary case of PTSD. For at least an hour after firing the gun just a few times, I was anxious and irritable."

Really, Gersh? Really?

 

Wow! This story really makes you think. I'd rather read a story about a reporter buying a fully automatic gun, or a grenade launcher.