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View ArticleThe RECOIL Magazine 2nd Amendment Controversy
An unfortunate turn of events has occurred surrounding the latest issue of RECOIL Magazine. Everyone at ITS HQ was ecstatic when we received our copies of issue #4 and saw our ETA Trauma Kit Pouch gracing the cover along with a slung H&K MP7A1.
So ecstatic in fact, that we didn’t catch the glaring editorial and PR train wreck that Editor Jerry Tsai managed to insert into the article covering the MP7. I’ll quote him directly here for those of you that haven’t seen the article yet.
“Like we mentioned before, the MP7A1 is unavailable to civilians and for good reason. We all know that’s technology no civies should ever get to lay their hands on. This is a purpose-built weapon with no sporting applications to speak of. It is made to put down scumbags, and that’s it. Mike Cabrera of Heckler & Koch Law Enforcement Sales and veteran law enforcement officer with SWAT unit experience points out that this is a gun that you do not want in the wrong, slimy hands. It comes with semi-automatic and full-auto firing modes only. Its overall size places it between a handgun and submachine gun. Its assault rifle capabilities and small size make this a serious weapon that should not be taken lightly.”
The issues with this statement come down to both the comments made by Mike Cabrera of Heckler & Koch and Mr. Tsai. Talking about the technology of the MP7 not having any “sporting applications” and not wanting the gun “in the wrong, slimy hands.” is just absurd. What gun do you want in the “wrong, slimy hands?” What baseball bat do you want in the “wrong, slimy hands?” See where this is going?
There’s a favorite quote of mine that I turn to often by author Dan Brown. “Knowledge is a tool, and like all tools, it’s impact is in the hands of the user.” Enough of my soapbox; this statement by Mr. Tsai is simply giving those that seek to take away our rights and liberties more fuel for their fire. The Second Amendment doesn’t come with the caveat of being only for sporting purposes and for good reason. The primary purpose for owning a gun is for defense. Maybe Mr. Tsai has forgotten that if it wasn’t for civilian weapons, we’d still be a British colony.
I’ve been watching the train wreck unfold since finding out about it this weekend and Mr. Tsai’s follow-up that he posted to the RECOIL Facebook Page yesterday (that has apparently been deleted) certainly didn’t help anything.


”As readers of RECOIL, we all agree that we love bad-ass hardware, there’s no question about that. I believe that in a perfect world, all of us should have access to every kind of gadget that we desire. Believe me, being a civvie myself, I’d love to be able to get my hands on an MP7A1 of my own regardless of its stated purpose, but unfortunately the reality is that it isn’t available to us. As a fellow enthusiast, I know how frustrating it is to want something only to be denied it.
Its manufacturer has not made the gun available to the general public and when we asked if it would ever come to the commercial market, they replied that it is strictly a military and law enforcement weapon, adding that there are no sporting applications for it. Is it wrong that HK decided against selling a full-auto pocket sized machine gun that can penetrate armor from hundreds of yards away? It’s their decision to make and their decision they have to live with not mine nor anybody else’s.

I accepted their answer for what it was out of respect for those serving in uniform.
I believe that we as gun enthusiasts should respect our brothers in law enforcement, agency work and the military and also keep them out of harms way. Like HK, I wouldn’t want to see one of these slip into the wrong hands either. Whether or not you agree with this is fine. I am compelled to explain a point that I was trying to make that may have not been clear.”
One of the truly disappointing things about his statements is that he did it on the backs of RECOIL’s advertisers, readers and everyone that’s made the publication what it is today. ITS has advertised in RECOIL for the past two issues amongst some of our good friends in the industry and on Friday had plans to continue to advertise in the next issue. In light of Mr. Tsai’s comments, we’ve since cancelled those plans.
RECOIL represented a huge shift for the industry into a beautiful publication with great photography and an excellent layout, which is no easy feat. Just picking up RECOIL and comparing it to the typical magazine sitting on the shelf made you want to hang on to it, but I digress.
It will be even more disappointing if Source Interlink Media (RECOIL’s parent company) feels this will just go away as they continue on with business as usual. Continuing with an editor that expresses these kind of statements in a “gun lifestyle” magazine is clearly the wrong direction.
Thank you for your continued support of ITS Tactical, it means more than you’ll ever know.
Bryan Black, Founder and Editor-in-Chief
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121 Comments
A new ” apology” has just been issued on Facebook.
Bryan,
Thank you for pushing this out. I was in complete disbelief when I read the article this past Friday, especially when so many of our Industry Partners advertise and work with the magazine. I was pretty bummed that just before reading the article I purchased a year subscription via the ipad, which I am now canceling. Hell if it shoots, it’s sporting for me. Cheers brother and keep up the great work!
I understand his point considering the gun “as is”, the round it uses and what those rounds are designed to do. I love my black rifles, but I do see his point and don’t see anything wrong with it concerning the gun tested.
People also don’t seem to remember that the second amendment giving us the rights and tools to defend ourselves from muggers/rapists is also a happy side effect. The true purpose of the amendment is to have a armed population in case the government gets too uppity. The government shouldn’t be in a position to tell you what you can and cannot have, we should be telling them. While I do not advocate anyone breaking the law to obtain this kind of hardware, if anyone should ever ask you why you would want/need something like this, just remember : the criminals don’t play by the rules, that’s why they are criminals.
just some food for thought.
When big brother comes for you no arms stash that you have accumulated will keep you safe.
Bryan, integrity like you’ve shown here will take ITS further than any sponsor, magazine, advertisement, or what-have-you. Thanks for standing up for all of your fans and customers.
Billy
Yet you are still selling the magazine
Excellent thoughts on the issue and perfect counteraction and response. You just earned a vocal customer and supporter for life!!
I’ve been hostile to HK for a while, for exactly the reasons you show. They are ultimately authoritarian, and I can’t shake the feeling that they would rather deal with a dictator who “makes the trains run on time” than civilians who actually run the trains.
More importantly, I’m glad to have heard of this particular issue with RECOIL from you. Because frankly, had I heard later from another source, and found out that you were an advertiser there, I would have lumped you into the same “I love whoever is in charge, whoever is in charge” pile as HK. (And that would have been a shame, because you make good stuff.)
I also sent an email to Source Interlink informing them that I would no longer be consuming any more of their media, particularly MotorTrend products. They can write off RECOIL being a rag for tacticool dinks, but when it starts choking the golden goose (their flagship publication) then you are more likely to see movement.
Thanks for posting. I just picked this up today and saw your post after. Sad to see this and will reconsider my purchase in the future based on the mag’s direction in the future. Please keep us posted and thanks again for this service to your blog readers.
I appreciate you stopping the ad support of Recoil Bryan… shows you stand for what’s right and you’re good people. I need not repeat what everybody’s been saying and what you mentioned above in the article but… Recoil mag can kiss my white American ass and I’ll reconsider what good graces I’ve ever given towards H&K.
Speaking of… I need to renew my ITS membership. Tally ho.
@chuckreynolds
So , if I understand correctly it is HK’s policy, and editor Tsai, is in trouble for NOT disagreeing with an advertiser? HK is perhaps the ones that need the lecture on sporting purposes, and the2nd Amendment. Not that it will matter, because the LE departments purchasing officers are usually politicians, not guys in the field. They will go merrily on their way, being stupid political desk poagues.. I think it is an unfortunate read stacked on a perfectly bollocksed policy by HK. And one day an advertiser is going to place an ignorant stipulation on one of your ads, and you will be faced with making the advertiser happy or your reading public.
Not sure if you’re addressing our advertising here on ITS, but we make no concessions with our advertisers and are very firm about what we do and do not allow in. Always has been that way and always will. Thanks for your comment.
Is it too late to recall my purchase of the magazine? I just ordered it from the ITS shop based on the ETA Trauma kit review, and then I saw all the “bad press” regarding the magazine, PLUS I have the iPad app! Now, being in Afghanistan, things move pretty slowly, so I haven’t been able to catch on everything that’s happening, but I still like to look through the mag and draw my own conclusions. If ITS is cancelling the magazine, then I might have to delete the app, and just toss issue #4 to the winds. If things change, then I may consider holding on for another issue…
We all know the pen is mightier than the sword but WOW…. a few typed lines may be more dangerous for RECOIL than the MP7 could ever be.
I for one am not ready to boycott the publication completely. The author did not consider his target audience and hopefully the publication will keep opinion out of its articles from on. However I am not a black and white type person. I have my opinion on 2A and what it means to me. I am open to others opinion up till a point and that article did not cross that line for me. So I will continue to monitor the publication to see what the future holds and will make my decision then.
Consider that this is the *editor*, not simply an article author.
What has to happen here is that the editor has to get the boot, plain and simple. First writing and publishing that tidbit, and then the bullshit apology where he stands by his viewpoint, then *deleting* that original (honest) ‘apology’ and writing something else where he plain lies about not agreeing with the H&K PR guy even though he has himself written earlier that he does, in fact, agree with him. Including in the magazine itself.
RECOIL will have to replace this editor and post an actual apology rather than lies for people to buy their rag again.
ITS – way to go – I will be buying your – gear – whatever it is – just because of your unwavering support for the 2A and the admonishment of those that don’t – like RECOIL mag. I agree – the mag is great eye candy – but its all fluff no substance. And I hope that more advertisers will follow your example – just like Silencerco’s example – you stood for something greater than yourselves – you stood for the collective populous – in support of the 2A – and for this I applaud you!!! Keep it up!!!
Proud to be an ITS member. Bryan you are a great American. Enemies of the constitution deserve no quarter.
thanks brother… we cannot afford quislings.
Mike Cabrera, as a representative of HK with experience and qualifications, made a statement about why the MP7A1 was not being sold commercially. His statement was blunt, and not all readers may agree, but the least we can do is respect his opinion. As Tsai made clear in his follow-up, a lot of civilians would really like to own a MP7A1 but the reality is that HK says we can’t. He implies that the decision to draw that line was made by some very respectable people, and I have no doubt that a lot of thought went into that decision and what it means for second amendment rights.
Now, Tsai obviously had a hard choice to make. He could show disrespect to Cabrera and HK by openly challenging their stance; he could do some sloppy journalism and not mention the unavailability at all; or he could convey the original statements in a way that (he hoped), most people would be able to appreciate. Agreeing or not is irrelevant, the point is that Tsai and RECOIL have behaved as professionally as possible and have avoided harming anyone’s rights. Notably, they supported Cabrera’s first amendment right to have his statement published to an appropriate audience.
He didn’t simply reprint that statement. Here’s what Tsai said, before that quote, which was his own editorial opinion;
‘Like we mentioned before, the MP7A1 is unavailable to civilians and for good reason. We all know that’s technology no civies should ever get to lay their hands on. This is a purpose-built weapon with no sporting applications to speak of. It is made to put down scumbags, and that’s it.’
That is not ‘conveying the original statement’. That is editorializing against the 2nd amendment using the same kind of bullshit ‘assault weapon’ line Feinstein, the Brady Bunch and others use.
AR15s are made to put down scumbags as well. That’s WHY PEOPLE BUY THEM. To defend themselves, their family, their homes. I’m surprised and a little shocked that you are incapable of seeing what is patently wrong and anti-gun in this statement.
Did you read the article? Mr Tsai did not “respect” or “disrespect” H&K, he openly agreed with them and really does not understand the spirit and the actual wording of the 2nd A. He has no business being an editor of a gun magazine.
H&K is not a US company. They obviously do not hold US 2nd A values. This is their choice just as it is my choice to not own an H&K because of their opinion. If Mr. Tsai understood the 2nd A at all, he could have backed the 2nd Amendment without disrespecting H&K.
This is just the fodder that anti-gunners like Bloomberg need to further their incremental gun control to where you would be lucky to own a slingshot.
if the government can have one, so should i.
ITS will now and forever have both my respect, and my business. I had bought the first three issues of RECOIL and was VERY impressed with it, I had held off getting a subscription wanting to make sure they kept the same high quality from issue to issue. Glad I held off after reading the article in this month’s issue. Thank you for being true Americans at ITS, Semper Fi.
I can’t stand the way he keeps referring to himself as an “enthusiast”. Maybe this is just a step-up departure for him from airsoft or something? Regardless, it was a screw-up, showed his stance, shows the arrogance we already knew H&K has, etc. To me, Recoil was a pretty cool magazine with a different layout than all the others. It felt very “civvie” oriented. It felt like watching an episode of something from GamerTV or something…with an entertainment edge vs. the generic tactical mag on the shelf.
And to disarm the “non sporting purpose” comment he made… if a civilian version -were- made, who is to say you couldnt use it in shooting competition? The AR15/M16/Stoner (whatever you want to call it) was originally made for the military, to defend our soldiers (and kill people.). Now the AR15 is nearly a staple in the American civilian gun cabinet…with many sporting purposes and applications.
Bryan,
One of the reasons that I feel that ITS is one of the premier sites on the web is that it holds true to what the Founding Fathers believed in that citizens are the militia NOT a standing army. ITS supports this by offering information and products geared to everyone and not LE/military first with a “nose-up” attitude towards civilians.
One thing that we need to realize is that HK is a European company and as such is influenced much more by European ideals about guns, thus the “no sporting purpose” attitude. HK would be wise to remember that in America, profitable, long-term sales are driven by civilians NOT the military/LE. Colt learned this lesson the hard way and it nearly bankrupted the company.
However, what Mr. Tsai needs to remember is that RECOIL is an American publication and should not be influenced by European attitudes. The fact is that the 2nd Amendment itself has no sporting purpose, but was instead intended to ensure that citizens had the tools to resist tyranny. “Sporting Use” is just a happy side-effect.
When we consider that the 2nd Amendment was intended to resist tyranny, it may be that the MP7 is already in the “wrong hands” if it is a military/LE only weapon. I would encourage ITS/RECOIL magazine readers to research the position of Barrett Rifles on military/LE only weapons. Barrett Rifles manufactures the legendary Barrett M82/M107 .50 BMG rifles. These rifles are for sale to both civilians and military/LE equally and without modification for either market. These rifles, as with any firearm chambered for .50 BMG offers excellent body armor penetration at extended ranges. So what?
As to the subject of “armor penetration”, wasn’t this covered when the FN PS90/Five-seveN was released for the civilian market? As I recall, this round was a prime target for the media because of it’s ability to penetrate armor and the ammunition capacity of weapons chambered for this round (30 rounds in the Five-seveN pistol with extended mag). Also of note is that the 5.7 X 28 cartridge was found superior to the HK 4.6 X 30 cartridge in NATO evaluations. The streets do not run red with blood from those killed with 5.7mm rounds that have penetrated body armor.
I don’t believe the 2A has anything to do with the “sporting purpose” of “arms”. And because of that, I think that the explanation of his statement served nothing more than to reinforce the point Mr. Tsai had already made. I would sum that point up as, “We all like guns because guns are cool; since that’s what this magazine is all about, we can all be on the same politically correct page and increase our circulation.”
I disagree with his misunderstanding of the 2A, but love the attempt RECOIL is making to capitalize on mainstreaming gun culture. Ultimately I think that’s a good thing. Anti-2A’s have lots of misguided logic they will continue to use, this portrayal only serves to disarm their accusations about gun owners (even if most of us do, actually, know better).
I think this article deserves a sharp rebuke, but not a lock out from sponsorship. Give them a chance to fix it, they’re still new.
Check out Larry Correia’s infamous spoof letter from HK marketing department. It is hilarious but exactly to the point. http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/hk-because-you-suck-and-we-hate-you/
HK: because you suck and we hate you
I think the decision to pull support for RECOIL over this is truly outstanding. Taking a stand for what you believe in and sticking to it against advertising and it big money is something you dont see everyday but I wish we did. Thank you ITS.