Tampa FOX station uses anti-gun info from the Trace for its P320 story
Pro-gun local official angry he was "used" by FOX reporter.
by Lee Williams
A pro-gun Florida state representative is angry he was “used” in an anti-gun story that relied upon data from the Trace, the propaganda arm of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control empire, which wants the public to believe it’s an actual newsroom comprised of actual journalists.
“Their trickery works,” Florida State Representative Danny Alvarez, a Republican whose district includes large chunks of Hillsborough and Polk Counties, told me Monday.
“Unless you’re tied in, you don’t realize they’re tied in,” Alvarez said. “I don’t need frenemies. This place is hard enough. Getting people to understand guns is difficult enough without covert ops from that group.”
The story, which was published Friday by Tampa’s FOX 13, was titled: “Florida lawmaker urges law enforcement agencies to suspend use of SIG Sauer P320 handgun, citing safety issues.”
It was written by FOX 13 reporter Aaron Mesmer, a general assignment reporter who has been at the Tampa television station since 2013. He did not return calls or emails Monday seeking his comments for this story.
Mesmer’s story used data from a 2023 story that was co-written by The Washington Post and the Trace, which was titled “Popular handgun fires without anyone pulling the trigger, victims say.”
Mesmer included a major point from the story, which claimed that “more than 100 incidents in which the gun reportedly discharged while holstered, resulting in at least 80 injuries since 2016.”
Earlier this month, the U.S Air Force “paused” the use of the Sig P320 handgun, known in the military as the M18, after an active-duty airman was killed by the pistol. According to reports, the handgun fired as the airman removed it from his holster and was placing it on a table. The 9mm round struck him in the chest.
Legendary firearms trainer Massad Ayoob has banned the gun from his classes, stating on social media that effective immediately the P320 and its variants are no longer allowed at any of his classes.
Other gun trainers and gun ranges have followed suit.
Sig Sauer has only responded to the airman’s death by issuing a short statement:
“Our hearts are with the service members and families impacted by the recent reported even at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base. We proactively offered assistance to the U.S. Military as they investigate the incident and remain willing to help in furtherance of their ongoing inquiry,” the statement reads. “We have absolute confidence in the Military’s ability to conduct a thorough investigation are working with the Air Force and Army to answer their questions.”
In Florida, Alvarez has called on law enforcement agencies across the state to suspend their use of the Sig P320 handgun, until “we’ve got a permanent solution that makes that weapon reliable and confident.”
He, too, was unaware the reporter cited data from the Trace.
Since the Trace was founded 10 years ago, scores of newspapers, websites and other legacy media outlets have fallen victim to its anti-gun ruses. Gannett’s flagship newspaper, USA Today, collaborated with the Trace multiple times, and even allowed Trace activists to produce and edit content, which appeared in the newspaper under a joint byline.
“We have partnered with more than 170 national and local media organizations,” the Trace said on its website. “We’re always looking to start new partnerships.”
Mesmer admitted he obtained data from the Trace, but he stopped short of identifying the group as Bloomberg’s well-financed anti-gun arm.
“Information for this story came from interviews with retired officer Bob Northrop and State Rep. Danny Alvarez, along with a statement from Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw and details from a joint investigation by The Washington Post and The Trace, a publication that focuses on gun-related news,” Mesmer wrote.
The Trace, however, does much more than just focus “on gun related news.”
Many gun owners have long known of the nexus between the Trace and Bloomberg’s other Astroturf (they’re not grassroots) gun-control groups. But the legacy media has purposefully turned a blind eye to this connection, so they can continue to publish the Trace’s propaganda guilt free.
Just two years ago, a member of the pro-gun community discovered that both the Trace and Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety shared the same president, John Feinblatt.
Takeaways
Rep. Alvarez is well known by the state’s gun community. He was once co-owner of an indoor, live-fire shoot house, where teams of participants “battled” against each other with special AR-15s, Glocks and AK-47s, which had been fitted to fire non-lethal paint-ball type ammunition.
Unfortunately, the range has since closed.
Keep exposing these charlatans. Great work.
Interesting that it's Fox 13. Yesterday, while reporting on the stabbings in Traverse City, MI, anchor Linda Hurtado stated that the person wielding the knife was detained in the parking lot by shoppers. No mention of the use of a firearm by a legal carrier to stop the threat.