It was announced today on RECOIL Magazine’s Facebook page that editor Jerry Tsai was stepping down from his position at the magazine due to the controversy over what Tsai said in an article about the H&K MP7A1. His anti-2A view drove many advertisers to pull their ads from the magazine, Tsai later backpedaled on and tried to point the blame at H&K, H&K then pointed the blame back at Tsai. No matter who’s at fault it’s unfortunate that an up and coming gun mag with a lot of potential has had their reputation tarnished so early on.

It is with deep sorrow that I announce I am stepping down as editor of Recoil, effective immediately.

It is very difficult for me to walk away from something I helped create, something that I loved doing, and something I firmly believed would appeal to a fresh new generation of gun enthusiasts, but I accept that the comments in my story in the current issue have made my position as editor of Recoil untenable.

With that said, Recoil is bigger than any one person, and if my departure will allow Recoil to continue to grow and engage gun enthusiasts, then stepping down as editor is clearly the right thing for me to do.

I accept I made mistakes, and I apologize unreservedly for calling Recoil’s support for Second Amendment rights into question.

While I understand the passions aroused over this incident, the deeply hurtful words from some of my fellow gun enthusiasts have been painful to endure. I hope now we can all move on.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have supported me over the past few days. These are the people who know me to be at heart a passionate gun enthusiast whose dream was to make something bold and new in firearms media.

Jerry Tsai

Things aren’t looking too good for RECOIL Magazine. Editor of RECOIL  Jerry Tsai tried to clean up their mess by releasing a statement claiming that he was just stating H&Ks position that the MP7A1 had no sporting application. You can read about all the drama here.

Well it looks like H&K released a statement of their own where they pointed the blame right back at RECOIL.

Some readers have misinterpreted a recent feature story in RECOIL magazine as a reflection of HK policy. Heckler & Koch has a long presence in the US civilian market and throughout that time has been an ardent and passionate supporter of the Second Amendment and the American civilian shooter. This will always be the case. The contents, opinions, and statements expressed in that feature story are those of the writer, not Heckler and Koch’s. Additionally, the writer and RECOIL magazine have issued a clarification and apology for the ill-chosen words used in the story.

The HK MP7A1 4.6 mm Personal Defense Weapon mentioned in the story is a selective-fire product (capable of “full automatic” fire) and is currently restricted to military and law enforcement agencies by BATF. HK-USA has previously researched introducing similar commercial products, chambered in 4.6 mm, but it was determined that the final product would not have enough appeal or be legally feasible.

— Heckler & Koch USA

So who’s really to blame here?