Guns & Ammo writer fired for pro-gun control editorial

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. magazine Guns & Ammo has fired a contributing editor and a top editor said he will retire early after a backlash over a pro-gun control column.

The magazine, based in Los Angeles, fired contributing editor Dick Metcalf after a column he wrote for the December 2013 issue, arguing there should be some government regulation of firearms, provoked a backlash that including threats to cancel subscriptions, the website Mediate reported Thursday.

"Way too many gun owners still seem to believe that any regulation of the right to keep and bear arms is an infringement," Metcalf wrote. "The fact is, all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be."

In the editorial, titled "Let's Talk Limits," Metcalf said U.S. citizens "have a right to keep and bear arms but I do not believe that they have a right to use them irresponsibly."

Guns & Ammo editor Jim Bequette, responding to subscribers' outrage over the editorial, apologized and assured readers the magazine's commitment "to the Second Amendment is unwavering."

"Dick Metcalf has had a long and distinguished career as a gun writer, but his association with 'Guns & Ammo' has officially ended," Bequette wrote, saying it was a mistake to publish Metcalf's column.

"I thought it would generate a healthy exchange of ideas on gun rights. I miscalculated, pure and simple," he wrote. "I was wrong, and I ask your forgiveness."

Bequette then announced he is retiring immediately, nearly two months ahead of his scheduled Jan. 1 retirement.