‘Full semi-automatic’: CNN ‘reporter’ fires AR-15, gets brutally mocked on Twitter

Joe NewbyFebruary 28, 2018

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In a video posted to YouTube on Monday, CNN reporter Gary Tuchman tried his hand at firing an AR-15, the weapon seen by most anti-gunners as the most evil “assault” weapon ever devised by man, under the tutelage of retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a national security, intelligence and terrorism analyst for CNN.

Breitbart posted a short graphic of Tuchman trying to fire the weapon on Twitter:

Here's @GaryTuchmanCNN firing an AR-15. pic.twitter.com/yMsaBSEeAS

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 28, 2018

There’s an awful lot wrong with this, as anyone who has ever had any firearms training can attest.

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Twitter users responded:

I’m no gun expert but there is so much that looks off here.

— BinghamtonU College Republicans (@BingRepublicans) February 28, 2018

That’s because there is an much that’s off…

“I bet the guys at the range were backing up and away from him. He is a menace with that thing,” one person said. “He is pulling so far right he is about to go into the neighboring target area.”

He is pulling so far right he is about to go into the neighboring target area. ??

— penelope210 (@penelopesire) February 28, 2018

Personally, if he were doing this on my rifle range, he’d be banned until he got some remedial training.

He should seek out some training at the NRA before he hurts himself or somebody else. The NRA gives safety classes. ?

— penelope210 (@penelopesire) February 28, 2018

But, but, I thought the NRA is responsible for all the evil and death in the world… Isn’t that what David Hogg wants us to believe?

hilarious. this is an easy gun to shoot with light recoil. my 100 lb god daughter can handle this firearm and not jerk around like this. this bologna armed boob makes it look like he is shooting a .50 cal. television theatrics.

— Mark Brendan Turner (@twentypiece) February 28, 2018

As someone who has actually fired both an AR-15 AND a .50 caliber machine gun, I have to agree.

There’s another aspect of this entire episode that caught the attention of many. At one point in this segment, Hertling, a retired Army general who should know better, referred to something called “full semi-automatic.”

Let’s be clear, actual military weapons like the M-16 I used during my time in the Marine Corps, had three options — Safe, Semi-automatic and Automatic. Fully automatic weapons are not available to the average gun buyer, but semi-automatic weapons are.

Many caught this faux pas as well:

"FULL SEMI-AUTOMATIC" more like "FULL PROPAGANDA"

— Deon Cockrell (@Deon_Cockrell) February 28, 2018

Here's the power of propaganda. @markhertling knows better but he doesn't care – his comment of an AR-15 going 'Full Semi-Automatic' to "cause maximum damage" was meant to inveigle and obfuscate the truth and imply that these are "automatic" weapons. https://t.co/eAKqWWKaku

— Tony Shaffer (@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y) February 28, 2018

Indeed, this report does smack of propaganda…

Hertling tried to explain on Twitter:

“For all those critiquing my phrase ‘full semi automatic,’ you are correct. I was attempting to inform the crew that I was going from ‘single shot’ to continuous trigger and rapid trigger pull using the semiautomatic capability. My apologies…but perhaps you’re missing the point.”

For all those critiquing my phrase “full semi automatic,” you are correct. I was attempting to inform the crew that I was going from “single shot” to continuous trigger and rapid trigger pull using the semiautomatic capability. My apologies…but perhaps you’re missing the point.

— Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) February 27, 2018

But many took the general to task, saying that indeed, they did get his point:

I think we get your point exactly. You want to make it sound scary. Full Semi-automatic makes it sound like a machine gun. Explaining that the gun shoots each time you pull the trigger is a better explanation. Reminds me about how Fake News reported AR-15 with chain saw attached. pic.twitter.com/oIhjZ4JFvK

— Million Army Ants (@MillionArmyAnts) February 28, 2018

Another person explained:

https://twitter.com/DesertDawgArms/status/968695146081542144

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this kind of reporting on guns by CNN, as Dave Workman reported here. And CNN certainly isn’t the only outlet that spreads misinformation as we reported here, here and here.

One person said:

Respectfully sir, words matter. You should know that as an officer. You misrepresented facts on national television to further an agenda. That's unethical.

— Phil Chau (@philc604) February 27, 2018

Everybody knows you never go 'full semi automatic' man!

— Historical Firearms | Matthew Moss (@historicfirearm) February 28, 2018

Ouch…

Despite all the hand-wringing and the propaganda being put out by networks like CNN, polls show that more Americans think government is the problem, not the lack of gun laws.

Here’s video of the CNN report: