January 2003
Soldier of Fortune (SOFMag.com)
George W. Bush -- one of our favorite gun guys, mind you --
is convinced that the planet needs another World War. That's
why GunGuys.com would like to honor a special web site that
brings all the blood, guts, and killing straight into the living
room of every gun nut and loser who pretends
they're in "special ops."
Our January Gun Guys site of the month goes to Soldier
of Fortune magazine.
Let's take a look at
Soldier of Fortune's landmark achievements, most notably
that the magazine was sued on two different occasions
after contract killers were hired through its classified ads.
In 1985, Soldier of Fortune accepted an ad that read, "GUN
FOR HIRE: 37-year-old mercenary desires jobs. Discreet and
very private. Bodyguard, courier, and other special skills.
All jobs considered." Richard Braun was killed, and his
son wounded, after Braun's business partner saw the
ad and hired a contract killer. The Supreme Court eventually
let
stand a $4.3 million dollar judgement against Soldier of
Fortune.
(Samuel Francis, Washington Times, 1/15/93, p.F1, final
edition.)
Also in 1985, Robert Black Jr. saw an ad for a hit man who
advertised his services in Soldier of Fortune. Black hired
John Wayne Hearn for $10,000 to kill his wife so Black could
cash in on a life insurance policy and marry his cousin. A
jury awarded Sandra Black's family a $9.4 million verdict
but the decision was overturned by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in 1989. ("State sides," Houston
Chronicle,
9/22/91, p. 2, Star Edition; Carol Christian, Houston Chronicle,
1/06/02, Sect. A, p. 33.)
The Rhodesian army recruited mercenaries in the 70's
through full-page back-cover advertisements, and mercenaries
were also hired in guerrilla wars in South America and Africa.
"A half dozen of its editorial staff have been killed
in battle -- many of them working as mercenaries. In Angola,
George Bacon was caught and executed with a group of nine U.S.
mercenaries. Editor Michael Echanis was killed in Nicaragua
while training U.S. backed dictator Anastasio Somoza's
special forces, (Richard Kelly, Toronto Star, 4/7/96, p. A2,
second edition.)
Timothy McVeigh was a long-time reader and subscriber.
Robert K. Brown, founder and publisher, is a long-term NRA
board member who calls law enforcement officers at the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- the "American
version of the Gestapo," (Kevin McCullen, Times Union,
11/12/00, p. A25, 4th edition.)
Soldier of Fortune gets a four bullet rating from
GunGuys.com. Why only four? They at least criticize the right-wing
conspiracy
theorists for being whacko.
Rating: 4 out of 5 rounds
