Tweet
Gun-control activists open fake shop to put Americans off buying guns
UNITED States gun-control activists have opened a firearm store in the middle of New York City, filling it with second-hand guns that have been used to kill children as young as nine months to make a point about the dangers of gun use.
States United to Prevent Gun Violence, a not-for-profit organisation against guns, has come up with the tagline: “Every gun has a history. Let’s not repeat it”.
The group opened a “gun shop” in the middle of Manhattan, posting signs such as “First time gun buyer? We are here to help you!”, to entice potential buyers to inquire about a gun purchase — but at the price of their conscience.
As people give their reasons for buying a gun — “safety, protection” — they are treated to the particular gun’s history — and its horror.
“I’m pro-second amendment, you know, and it's kind of hard to find that in New York City,” says one customer.
The “shop assistant” nods understandingly before showing him the most “popular” piece — “the easiest gun to use, our most popular one”.
“It’s a 22-calibre, 6-inch revolver,” he says. “It’s also a gun that a five-year-old found in his parents’ bedroom, went down and shot his nine-month-old baby brother with it”.
The customer immediately stops in his tracks, eyes bungling in horror.
Another buyer who picks up the small firearm reads the price tag, which explains the gun’s history.
“It says: ‘Shooter, five-year-old kid, one dead’. What does that mean?” the man asks.
Then the penny drops.
“This is the gun the kid shot? This is the one? This is the one the kid used? Holy sh*t.”
In another attempt to “sell” a “nine-millimetre, semiautomatic, very handy gun,”, the shop assistant also explains just how easy the firearm is to use: “you can carry it in your purse like that girl from Walmart, [where] her three-year-old son reaches into her pocket, pulls it out, shoots her”.
But the most confronting moment comes towards the end, when the “store assistant” reveals one gun was used in one of America’s most traumatic and heart-wrenching mass shootings of late — at Sandy Hook Elementary.
“Collectors love this one. Adam Lanza’s mum had this in her collection too. Until he took this and several other guns and killed her, then went down to Sandy Hook and killed six teachers and 20 kids.
“Twenty little kids, gone — like that.”
Citing other instances of gun “protection”, the store manager talks about parents who “thought, ironically, they were protecting their nine-month-old,” or a mother who “thought she was protecting her two-year-old”.
When interviewed afterwards, even diehard, second amendment supporters were swayed.
“I was pretty blindsighted by the entire history by every gun in that store,” said one shocked customer.
A woman said: “It made me think twice and I would not buy it”, and the couple who believe gun ownership to be the a right confessed to having had their opinion changed.
“You don't want to be the Walmart case.”
Social media has reacted very strongly to this extremely divisive topic, with many supporting the honesty behind States United to Prevent Gun Violence’s campaign.
But as with most actions, there is an opposite and equal reaction, and pro-gun activists have already launched a scathing attack of the video, commenting on how many lives guns have saved.
UNITED States gun-control activists have opened a firearm store in the middle of New York City, filling it with second-hand guns that have been used to kill children as young as nine months to make a point about the dangers of gun use.
States United to Prevent Gun Violence, a not-for-profit organisation against guns, has come up with the tagline: “Every gun has a history. Let’s not repeat it”.
The group opened a “gun shop” in the middle of Manhattan, posting signs such as “First time gun buyer? We are here to help you!”, to entice potential buyers to inquire about a gun purchase — but at the price of their conscience.
As people give their reasons for buying a gun — “safety, protection” — they are treated to the particular gun’s history — and its horror.
“I’m pro-second amendment, you know, and it's kind of hard to find that in New York City,” says one customer.
The “shop assistant” nods understandingly before showing him the most “popular” piece — “the easiest gun to use, our most popular one”.
“It’s a 22-calibre, 6-inch revolver,” he says. “It’s also a gun that a five-year-old found in his parents’ bedroom, went down and shot his nine-month-old baby brother with it”.
The customer immediately stops in his tracks, eyes bungling in horror.
Another buyer who picks up the small firearm reads the price tag, which explains the gun’s history.
“It says: ‘Shooter, five-year-old kid, one dead’. What does that mean?” the man asks.
Then the penny drops.
“This is the gun the kid shot? This is the one? This is the one the kid used? Holy sh*t.”
In another attempt to “sell” a “nine-millimetre, semiautomatic, very handy gun,”, the shop assistant also explains just how easy the firearm is to use: “you can carry it in your purse like that girl from Walmart, [where] her three-year-old son reaches into her pocket, pulls it out, shoots her”.
But the most confronting moment comes towards the end, when the “store assistant” reveals one gun was used in one of America’s most traumatic and heart-wrenching mass shootings of late — at Sandy Hook Elementary.
“Collectors love this one. Adam Lanza’s mum had this in her collection too. Until he took this and several other guns and killed her, then went down to Sandy Hook and killed six teachers and 20 kids.
“Twenty little kids, gone — like that.”
Citing other instances of gun “protection”, the store manager talks about parents who “thought, ironically, they were protecting their nine-month-old,” or a mother who “thought she was protecting her two-year-old”.
When interviewed afterwards, even diehard, second amendment supporters were swayed.
“I was pretty blindsighted by the entire history by every gun in that store,” said one shocked customer.
A woman said: “It made me think twice and I would not buy it”, and the couple who believe gun ownership to be the a right confessed to having had their opinion changed.
“You don't want to be the Walmart case.”
Social media has reacted very strongly to this extremely divisive topic, with many supporting the honesty behind States United to Prevent Gun Violence’s campaign.
But as with most actions, there is an opposite and equal reaction, and pro-gun activists have already launched a scathing attack of the video, commenting on how many lives guns have saved.
Nice way to get people to look past the bluster.
Comment