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CNN Correspondent Touts AR-15s for Wild Hog Hunting Then Wonders Why Hunters 'Need' Them

by P.J. Gladnick

One of the big talking points of liberal dogma is that hunters don't "need" to use AR-15 rifles for hunting. So what happens when a television correspondent praises the qualities of AR-15s for hunting wild hogs? He has to perform a bizarre sort of mea culpa by sidetracking the story a bit and asking a hog hunter if he really "needs" to use an AR-15.

Such was the case with CNN correspondent Victor Blackwell in his story about wild hog hunting on Anderson Cooper 360. First Blackwell reports on the damage caused by wild hogs to farms in Georgia as you can see in this video.

VICTOR BLACKWELL: The USDA estimates there are about four to five million wild hogs in America and they cause about $1.5 billion worth of crop damage a year. Pritchard is frustrated. He's tried everything to nurture his crops. Get it done. You need a few basic tools. You need your seeds. You need your tractor. You need sunlight and water. And apparently you need an AR-15, too.

JIM PRITCHARD, FARMER: I need a good man with a good gun.

HAL SHOUSE, HOGSWAT: I'm a good man, this is a great gun.

BLACKWELL: He's Hal Shouse. And that is one of his six AR-15s. It is the gun of choice for hog hunters, because it's light, easy to carry and has little recoil. Hal works for 16 farmers covering nearly 100,000 acres.

Oops! That praise of the AR-15 for hunting sounds like liberal heresy. Perhaps Blackwell realized that he committed a "thought crime" so while waiting for the wild hogs to arrive in the middle of night, Blackwell questions Shouse about the AR-15 controversy:

BLACKWELL: While we waited, we talked about that gear at the center of a national battle. You know, when you say AR-15 and 30 round mag, that's a political hot button.

SHOUSE: Sure it is, because people have decided to make it one. You know, tragedies happen but the weapons didn't create these tragedies. Sick individuals used this weapon, this tool, and they did something destructive with it, something ugly. There's just nothing else you can say about it.

After bagging a wild hog, the questions about the "need" for the AR-15 returns...despite the fact Blackwell himself previously stated why those rifles were effective for wild hog hunting:

BLACKWELL: The question has been repeatedly who needs this weapon outside of the military, someone who wants to kill someone else.

SHOUSE: Well, I mean, need is -- that's a big word, you know. You don't need a lot of things that you choose to use because they make your job easier. I could do this with a single shot weapon. I wouldn't be near as effective. I could do it. But I don't want to. I'm a legal, responsible gun owner. I evaluated all of the different weapons out there and I decided that this weapon is what makes sense for me and my company.

The story ends there...but not for Anderson Cooper who has to add his two cents about the AR-15.

COOPER: Victor, a lot of controversy obviously surrounded the use of high capacity magazines. Could these hunters do the same job with smaller magazines?

BLACKWELL: He said yes, he can do it but he would not be as effective. And here's why. Because he says, in the hunt you just watched, there was just one boar but if there had been a sow with maybe 12 babies which is not unusual, because they can have up to 12 a few times a year, he would need all 30 rounds to fire off in quick repetition.

And for all the liberals who often whine that hunters don't "need" an AR-15, I suggest you watch this story. Victor Blackwell actually makes a pretty good case for why AR-15s are a good rifle for hunting wild hogs.