New York Post Anti-Gun Clickbait Aims To Rile Readers — It Worked

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New York Post Anti-Gun Clickbait Aims To Rile Readers -- It Worked
An NYP writer was disgusted by an ad for an AR-7 — which is nothing like any of the guns in this photo. (Photo: New York Post)

How do you think Alexander Hamilton would feel if he could see, today, the newspaper he founded 200 years ago? I doubt he’d be proud of the sensationalist tabloid content they make. Since 1976, they’ve been using ridiculous headlines to draw readers’ eyes — they invented clickbait before you could click. This time, the content is as ridiculous as the headline.

A Nauseating Christmas Gun Ad Killed My Holiday Spirit

John Crudele posted an editorial in the business section on Monday reacting to an email he got from Henry Repeating Arms advertising their AR-7 rifle for the holidays, “Nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ Like An AR-7.”

You and I know that the AR-7 is Henry’s .22 LR survival rifle. It breaks down and all the components fit inside the water-tight stock. Like the AR-15, it was designed by Eugene Stoner at ArmaLite and its predecessors were used by the Air Force as survival rifles for plane crews.

The AR-7 is a semi-auto .22 rifle and it’s generally marketed as a highly portable survival gun. The kind of thing you’d bring on a camping trip or a rafting trip.

New York Post Anti-Gun Clickbait Aims To Rile Readers -- It Worked
This is the gun Crudele is disgusted by. Basically a big boy’s Red Rider BB gun.

Crudele was raging about it because the AR-7 could be used to “kill a lot of people” and doesn’t belong under the tree for Christmas. He says its compact form and lightweight would make it easy to sneak into schools or movie theaters to “kill a lot of people.”

He never shows a picture of the AR-7. He just shows a wall full of large semi-auto rifles at a gun store — AKs, ARs, and various other “black” guns adorn the wall.

Of course, he had to use that picture because if anyone saw the actual AR-7 they would see how ridiculous his premise is. It’s basically a big boy’s Red Rider BB gun. But it could “kill a lot of people.”

The post on Twitter has more than 1,600 comments, and none that I read on the first several pages were in support of the author’s opinion.

He wrote, “There was also the boilerplate comment about how the company hoped ‘your loved ones never actually find themselves in a life and death situation’ and would only need the gun for target shooting with friends.”

With this line, he’s implying that the life and death situation Henry was alluding to is some kind of active shooter situation. Of course, Henry means the gun can be handy in a bush plane in case you get stuck in the backcountry longer than expected. Not that it could help you survive the zombie apocalypse.

According to Crudele, it’s companies like Henry who are creating fuel for the gun industry to burn itself. “Companies like this give people who don’t like guns a reason to continue their dislike for them.” On the contrary: it’s misleading articles like his that plant the idea that people should dislike guns.

This guy received a marketing email from Henry Repeating Arms. That means he signed up for their mailing list. The right answer to this email would have been to hit the “unsubscribe” button.

Unfortunately, I doubt the New York Post will lose very many of its four-hundred thousand subscribers over Crudele’s article. Fortunately, that’s fewer than half the number of subscribers to GunsAmerica. He and his followers are just part of a noisy minority.

What are you hoping for under the tree this Christmas?

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  • Alan Robinson December 5, 2019, 10:35 am

    Good. That’s right, good. Because at this juncture in my 60 years, I’ve now gotten to the point where if I can really piss off or upset a Lefty Lib, I’ll do it.
    Used to be, I just let it go.
    But not anymore, I’m tired of being blamed for the actions of others, especially long dead others.
    Crudele just reinforces my dislike for Lefties like him.
    I hope he doesn’t get his ‘Holiday spirit’ back, AND I would point out that if this took it away, He doesn’t REALLY know what the “Holiday (Christmas) spirit” is to begin with, or He would NOT have ‘lost’ it, now would He?
    It seems that despite the time of the year for a snowflake like him, he still has a meltdown over nothing.

  • Dude December 1, 2019, 4:16 am

    Now they’ll go up in price.
    Thanks a..hole

  • Parana Slim November 30, 2019, 1:29 pm

    Oh my, black rifles are juthst so thinister looking, can’t we just have thafe spathces for the holidays?

  • Shan November 29, 2019, 8:49 pm

    a Henry survival gun? Really? Pretty scary. New York Slimes trash propaganda.

  • Beachhawk November 29, 2019, 8:20 pm

    Most New York Post readers don’t know which end of a gun to point at the target and they could not explain the difference between a clip and a magazine if their very life depended on a correct answer. I guess when the chips are down, neither could most New Yorkers.

  • BRASS November 29, 2019, 8:13 pm

    In the last 30 days I personally know of a number of folks who have bought additional guns to add to their collection. Their primary reason for doing so was the increasing restrictions placed on guns where they live and the efforts to stop them from doing so.

    Telling red blooded Americans they can’t do something is guaranteed to result in the opposite effect. It happens every single time and yet, the idiot blue ballers continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.

    They’re incapable of learning, incapable of evolving. Neanderthals who always lean left and walk funny.

  • Michael Keim November 29, 2019, 7:10 pm

    He’s either a liar or a stupid asshole. Take your pick.

  • will November 29, 2019, 11:35 am

    I am hoping for a new Red Ryder for christmas.I have my original Red Ryder from 40 yrs ago,unfortunately my nephews lost inner workings making it just a pop gun,but still functions.

  • II GUN November 29, 2019, 11:23 am

    Raise your hand if you would like to receive a new gun under the tree this year…. Oh yeah, don’t forget some ammo too!!

    • Shan November 29, 2019, 8:44 pm

      🇺🇸Me

  • D.J. November 29, 2019, 11:09 am

    Christmas morning 1977 , I was eleven years of age . My Father gave
    me my first rifle , a Marlin .22 , in a scene not unlike the “Christmas Story ”
    movie . It was one of the greatest gifts ever given to me . ‘ Still have that rifle ,
    NEVER would be willing to sell it ! A memory I cherish to this day .
    In 2007 I did the same for my eleven year-old Son . I’m more than certain
    he feels the same as I do about his weapon .

    ” Doesn’t belong under the Christmas tree ” ?

    Mr. Crudele , I’ll thank you to mind your own damned business . I’ll
    make the determination of what belongs under the tree at my house ,
    and for my family ……….especially as I am Santa there !

  • Tom Walker November 29, 2019, 11:01 am

    Now that he mentions it, I wouldn’t mind having an AR-7 under the tree!

  • mikeb November 29, 2019, 10:30 am

    I’m hoping for a Kel-Tec CP33 to be under my Christmas tree. Crudele would probably lose it if he knew 33 meant it would hold 33 bullets.

  • krinkov545 November 29, 2019, 9:46 am

    Did John Crudele’s mother ever tell his as a small boy that it’s wicked to bear a false witness and lie? That article is a out flat lie and slander.

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