BANG BANG

From my latest on Forbes, "A Peek Inside The World Of Gun Magazines":

"There are artfully shot weapon porn spreads, catchy headlines (a piece on a 'survivor truck' is titled 'APOCALYPSE WOW!'), and feature stories on subjects ranging from aeronautics to attack dogs to a profile of U.S.M.C. scout sniper Collin Raaz, who lost both legs to an IED in Afghanistan and returned home to found a shooting gear startup. A four-page spread on 'BOURBON: AN AMERICAN MAN’S DRINK' advises: 'SHOOT, THEN DRINK. IN THAT ORDER'; an accompanying sidebar tells you 'HOW TO DRINK BOURBON' (an excerpt: 'Drinking a rocks glass of bourbon is your birthright as an American. It is like drinking a glass of freedom. It fuels your inner man.'). Here, the advertisers are more diverse: truck tires, motorcycle gear, a slim ad in the back offering 50% off an adult video from Adam & Eve ('Use code RECOIL5 at checkout' for your discount). As a bonus, every issue of RECOIL comes with a free target for shooting practice. This month’s poster-sized pullout has a sexy blonde in ripped, bust-exposing clothing being attacked by a male zombie. Thankfully, she is armed to the teeth with a Spike’s Tactical Compressor in her right hand and a large knife in her left hand. The zombie, who is losing half his face, appears hellbent on eating her brains, but with that amount of weaponery, my bet is on the blonde. ('There’s nothing hotter than a heavily-armed beautiful woman,' Harrison observes.)"