The Press Can Ignore Gun Laws: You Can't

Three aspiring Chicago rappers found out the hard way that only those already in entertainment get an entertainment exemption from gun laws. Rodney Ramsey, Sheldon Cobb and Rayvon Lollis were filming a hip-hop video in the back yard of an Englewood home, using real guns as props. Police arrived and the trio was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon.

Now, I'm no big fan of current urban music genres, but I can understand how these budding entrepreneurs might have been a bit confused about how firearms regulations work. After all, the legislature of California works overtime thinking of ways to torment gun owners there, but the film and television industries are always exempt from any new outrage it passes.

And don't get me started on journalists and politicians, who regard firearms as handy props when advocating against our rights. NBC newsman David Gregory's waving around of an AR magazine while within the corporate limits of Washington D.C. was only the most recent example.

Our Second City threesome probably thought their entertainment project was just as worthy as anything produced by Warner Brothers or NBC, so why shouldn't they get to use the real hardware? I think they might just be right. Defense fund, anyone?