A "small cache of weapons"?

Believe me, I am not a defender of Plaxico Burress. He is kind of a punk and played for Michigan State. But when the news media "reports" on something like this and

Weapons cache reportedly found at Plaxico Burress' home

Reports: Weapons, ammo seized at Burress' NJ home

Authorities seized a small cache of weapons and ammunition from the New Jersey home of New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, the New York Post and Newsday both reported Wednesday, possibly setting up the embattled player for more legal trouble.

The Post, citing anonymous law enforcement sources, said a 9-mm handgun, a rifle and ammunition for three other guns — a .380, a .45 and a .40, the same caliber of gun Burress accidentally shot himself with — were seized during the execution of a search warrant at Burress' home in Totowa.

A "weapons cache"? One rifle. One handgun. Some ammunition. That is newsworthy? The headline makes it sound like he had dozens of M-16s hidden in a fortress, a virtual Branch Davidian compound in New Jersey. Nope, one rifle. One handgun. A couple of boxes of ammunition.

I would be willing to bet that most people in Michigan have at least that many firearms in their house, many of us have quite a few more. I know I do! I am afraid to think what the news media would describe my collection as: "an arsenal"? "A paramilitary training ground"? The national news media is so removed from the majority of Americans that the discovery of law-abiding citizens (not including Mr. Burress of course) owning firearms in the home and believing in God is like discovering a long-lost tribe in the jungle. Little wonder that Barack Obama derisively spoke of middle Americans clinging to their guns and religion, and that the comment caused little uproar on the coasts. How can we expect to get our news from people who spin reports like this, turning a couple of guns in an apocalyptic cult waiting for doomsday?