MSNBC.com Cites Unlabeled Anti-Gun Activist

If you run a policy group in Washington, your chances of getting on network television are slim if you happen to advocate for a cause not favored by liberals. Your chances are even worse that anything you say won't be slapped with a "conservative" label to warn viewers of your perspective.

That's a good thing. Most groups can be placed somewhere on the political spectrum and that placement should be disclosed to the news consumer. The unfortunate thing, however, is that if you're a liberal group, your affinities often are not disclosed.

Such was the case with this MSNBC.com article on the subject of guns which features a quote from one Joseph Vince who happens to be a gun control advocate. This information is not disclosed to the audience. Instead, we get this:

In the photos Cho sent to NBC, he showed some of his ammunition — hollow-point rounds, purchased, officials say, in the weeks before the shootings. Law enforcement officials say hollow-points are generally considered more lethal.

Joseph Vince, a retired ATF agent, agrees.

"It's not something that you would need for home protection, because what you are trying to do is eliminate an immediate threat," Vince says. "The idea of killing is what this ammunition portrays to me."

However, as St Wendeler at Another Rovian Conspiracy points out, Vince is not just your run-of-the-mill former ATF official:

MSNBC features analysis from a "retired ATF agent" who also happens to be: 1) Member of an organization that is apparently gun control front; 2) in the employ of Handgun Control Inc, the premier handgun control lobbying group in the country; and 3) supports legal actions against firearm dealers.

And they fail to mention this affiliation at all in their story. Surely they knew Mr. Vince's bio when they sought him out for comment.

It's almost as if MSNBC has some sort of agenda to push or something and doesn't want it audience to be informed.

Side note: Vince's remark is incredibly stupid on its own. He apparently thinks that metal bullets should not be about "the idea of killing." Ridiculous.

Hat tip: Instapundit.