My impression from just watching Hawkeye's thread grow is that Charlie Askins's spirit is still haunting gun talk.
I tumbled to Charlie's ruse many years before we became friends and I heard him proudly explain it exactly as I had figured it out. Just to stir the emotions of readers, he loved to publish (in one magazine) an article denouncing the M1911 or the lever action, for example, in favor of revolvers or bolt actions -- and at the same time publish (in another magazine) an article denouncing revolvers or the bolt action, in favor of the M1911 or lever actions.
His ruse worked. He and the magazines got bushels and bundles of hot mail from all sides, and Charlie chortled with glee. His favorite pastime was killing people. Making droves of readers hopping mad was probably a close second-best favorite. He sure got a huge kick out of it.
