TV station lies to the public about Airsoft Guns

Not that this is news - you just won't hear it anywhere except, perhaps, here.

A "News Station" calling itself NewsChannel5.com (WTVF in Nashville, TN) reported the following:

Toy Guns Illegal in Hendersonville

The story reports that several teenagers were cited for firing "air soft pellet guns" in Hendersonville, Tennessee, defying the town's "tough stand on toy guns."

They then cited ordinance 11-601, which makes it illegal to fire any airgun, air pistol air rifle or even BB gun in the city limits. (It's also illegal to throw a snowball maliciously!)

Right there - they lied, because their headline says toy guns are illegal in Hendersonville. In fact, the ordinance says no such thing. It is a commonsense law about not discharging an airgun (it's one word, WTVF!) within the city limits. In fact, the majority of incorporated communities in the U.S. have a similar law. News Channel 5 might as well have reported the rising of the sun!

We called the Hendersonville police department to ask specifically if toy guns (meaning airsoft guns, in this case - another one-worder, WTVF) are illegal. THEY ARE NOT ILLEGAL. Second lie. Actually, it's the same lie, but told a different way. Clever, these new age doublethink specialists.

The officer we spoke with said the teens were running down the street firing airsoft guns at each other and ended up in a school yard. In other words, they were having an impromptu skirmish. In reality, they broke the law by brandishing their guns in public. The officer said the boys were very close to a sanctioned paintball field and wondered why they didn't just go there. Contrary to what WTVF says, shooting guns in Hendersonville is perfectly legal at the paintball field and in private residences. And, like every other community in America, you can't run up and down the street shooting or sit on your front porch and start popping your gun!

The report tried to explain airsoft by saying the guns fire "tiny plastic beads" and can be purchased at stores like the K-Mart in Hendersonville. They couldn't very well report that the guns fire 6mm BBs, because they have to assume their viewing audience is as dense as the reporter who writes the story. They further reported that the store has no notice or information on the ordinance against firing the guns. Wow! Imagine that! And, I suppose that the television sets in the News Channel 5 broadcast area have no notice on them regarding the possible invalidity or outright falsification of their news reports!

Well, here's another headline for you:

Nashville's News Channel 5 Not Cited For Fraudulent Reporting of Toy Gun Story

Let's see how they like it!