We reported last time that Blue Collar Comedian Bill Engvall, who had made statements in 2011 and 2012 that suggested his willingness to ban certain firearms, is scheduled to speak at the NSSF’s 2015 SHOT Show State of the Industry dinner. Engvall was selected to replace Jay Leno after Leno wimped out following protests from anti-gun groups.

After coming under fire from the rest of us for his remarks, Engvall has released a statement apologizing for those previous statements:

“I was raised to own up to a mistake and I made a mistake when I spoke about gun ownership without knowing the facts on Bill Maher’s show. I am a staunch believer in the Second Amendment and I was wrong to stray from what I believe. I made a mistake and I own up to that. I do not believe that we need more restrictions on law-abiding citizens who want to buy any type of gun that is legally available.”

I believe it is important to accept people’s apologies for such acts, because that is exactly what we want them to do — correct themselves and get back on track. If we don’t accept them, there’s no reason for them to ever look back. Engvall stepped up, apologized and got back on track. Leno…. not so much.

We still don’t know why the NSSF didn’t do due diligence (twice) before selecting its entertainment.