Group takes credit for Vegas 'Shoot a School Kid' billboard
Source: Associated Press
Ken Ritter, Associated Press
Updated 7:33 pm, Thursday, March 1, 2018
LAS VEGAS (AP) A guerrilla art collective claimed credit Thursday for changing a freeway-side billboard inviting Las Vegas tourists to fire high-powered assault-style rifles to read, "Shoot A School Kid Only $29."
The altered advertisement, which had said "Shoot a .50 caliber only $29," was taken down within hours and police began an investigation after the vandalism was reported, Officer Larry Hadfield said.
An email statement from the activist group INDECLINE took credit for the protest.
A telephone caller who said he represents the group but refused to give his name provided the statement to The Associated Press.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Vegas-gun-range-billboard-changed-to-Shoot-a-12719996.php
vkkv
(3,384 posts)making the NRA -
" A TERRORIST GROUP"
- according to 'ol Bush law.
sl8
(13,747 posts)The NRA, gun culture, and the government are all targeted.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/vandalized-las-vegas-billboard-says-shoot-a-school-kid/
This protest piece is in response to Americas longstanding obsession with gun culture and our governments inability to honor the victims of mass shootings by distancing themselves from the homicidal policies of the (National Rifle Association), the group wrote in a news release.
...
Silver1
(721 posts)but this is offensive and ineffective.
Weed Man
(304 posts)Its the fucking truth. Gunners needs to give it up and now.
Silver1
(721 posts)But shock therapy isn't the right way. It's just not going to get us there. I think it will only create more fear and division.
PSPS
(13,591 posts)Silver1
(721 posts)Yesterday was the time. The issue is way overdue. The longer we wait the more dangerous this becomes. Military weapons should not be in the hands of civilians. Of any age. Etc.
What I'm saying is that I don't like the billboard. I find it repulsive. It's yet another assault on our kids. I don't support promoting ideology at any cost, especially when it comes to children.
PSPS
(13,591 posts)I can't fathom why you can't (or won't) get it. Well, I have my suspicions.
What's more dangerous? A billboard or a gun? It's funny that you claim that you "don't support promoting ideology at any cost, especially when it comes to children." That's exactly what the insane gun culture is doing -- promoting its ideology at any cost including the lives of kids and everyone else.
And if you think that a kid seeing the billboard will be "traumatized," you're not thinking rationally. Kids are already aware of the situation and will instantly get the message.
TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)people whose soft-sell tactics allow progressive goals to be put on the back burner time after time after time...
I'd like to tell those people to STFU! We Dems have been taking the high road for decades and it hasn't gotten us very far!
TheSmarterDog
(794 posts)was that the public was allowed to see photos of the victims.
Silver1
(721 posts)How did they do it? Were the images published everywhere? Or did they do some kind of tv programming just for that? I don't expect you to necessarily know the details, I'm just wondering.
I wouldn't have a problem with that. Just as long as there was fair warning so little kids wouldn't accidentally see. Or adults who are already dealing with trauma, PTSD, or who just couldn't stand it.
iluvtennis
(19,850 posts)PSPS
(13,591 posts)It's supposed to be offensive. The 'gun culture' is offensive.
As for "ineffective," well, it had an effect on you.
I get it and I'm there.
But this is about our children, and this ad is too graphic, too frightening for them. It's self serving without regard for the kids. So, I object.
PSPS
(13,591 posts)What? You think "our children" are blissfully unaware of the situation and it is this billboard that will "frighten" them? That's ridiculous. "Without regard for the kids" doesn't make any sense either. If anything, this is how you force people to have "regard for the kids" and see their gun fetish for what it is -- the very embodiment of not having "regard for the kids" or anything/anybody else.
Silver1
(721 posts)And yes, they are very afraid right now.
You are looking for a fight and I'm not interested. Take it somewhere else.
PSPS
(13,591 posts)pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)I came to DU to have a voice which I do not have in my right wing nut job family. Unfortunately there are people here who are not receptive to those who have a difference of opinion. I also found this billboard offensive (see other posts on this thread) and find that I have been marginalized due to a difference of opinion. I really expected more from DU when I joined a few months ago after following DU for a few years. You do not have to agree, but a little respect for those of us who have a different opinion would be nice, especially here.
Jedi Guy
(3,185 posts)Why do you think it's okay to accuse another member of being a Russian troll because they have a different opinion? The DU terms of service state...
No personal attacks or flaming
Do not personally attack, insult, flame, threaten, bully, harass, stalk, negatively call-out, ascribe ugly ulterior motives to, or make baseless claims about any member of this community. Do not post in a manner that is hostile, abusive, or aggressive toward any member of this community.
It's fine to disagree. It's fine to disagree vehemently. It's not fine to accuse another person of being a Russian troll because you don't like their opinion. I'm curious as to why you think it's okay for you to violate DU's terms of service.
GWC58
(2,678 posts)Thats interesting, and creepy.
Silver1
(721 posts)Adults should listen to kids more.
Have you seen Call of Duty? How about prime time TV? The news? You could have written your post to the NRA, your Rep/Senators but you chose instead to spend your time hand wringing over this billboard. Priorities, ya know.
tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)Have you seen Call of Duty? How about prime time TV? The news? You could have written your post to the NRA, your Rep/Senators but you chose instead to spend your time hand wringing over this billboard. Priorities, ya know.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)You make many accusations and allegations in regard to the sign, but you fail to provide any evidence at all for your conclusions that it's too graphic/frightening/self-serving/etc/
So, the objection is over-ruled.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Response to Judi Lynn (Original post)
Weed Man This message was self-deleted by its author.
The_REAL_Ecumenist
(719 posts)I'm all for expressing oneself via art but this is about 3 million to the nth degree light years past anything that looks like genuine art. Especially considering that there are FAR too many crazies that would take this as a personal challenge...
PSPS
(13,591 posts)It exposes the real derangement of the "gun culture" in this country.
groundloop
(11,518 posts)Especially the part where it showed the original billboard (SHOOT A .50 CAL). Just to add clarification, the 'art' was that they're forcing people to understand that Americas' fascination with guns and ease of obtaining them is fostering mass murder.
The_REAL_Ecumenist
(719 posts)pain when well meaning groups go back and forth but forget that there are families who've lost people they love due to sick minds & easy access to guns. Sometimes, it's WAY too much, WAY TOO SOON. Unfortunately, I KNOW what it feels like to be a member of the GROWING numbers of families who can only visit their loved ones in dreams. columbariums or cemetaries. dylan roof was my family's monster. That church in Charleston? yeah, that one is my family's "ancestral church & my family lost 2 cousins. So, NO, it doesn't fucking matter what was written. Sometimes, it's a bit too much. PERIOD.
PSPS
(13,591 posts)The_REAL_Ecumenist
(719 posts)it would be a harsh lesson that I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy. SNDH
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)You presume far too much of those whose experiences you minimize.
It's great pretense, but not much else.
The_REAL_Ecumenist
(719 posts)My family lost TWO members to that creep dylan roof shooting up their Bible study night & YOU're telling ME I'M minimising other people's experiences?
The_REAL_Ecumenist
(719 posts)this was WAY past too much, I can honestly say I know what it's like to be in the shoes of those who've lost their babies, siblings, brothers, daddies, Uncles, Sisters, Daughters & sons on that terrible day. You see, the church in South Carolina where that sumbitch, dylan root murdered those people? Yeah, well, it's the church that my paternal family, including my grandmother attended often, for weddings, funerals, etc. While I understand what these people were trying to point out, it's HORRIFICALLY painful for we Americans who have loved ones lying six feet under or in urns because of gunplay. So, in the end, DOESN'T MATTER TO ME what YOU like.
PSPS
(13,591 posts)So who, specifically, was a relative of yours who was killed in Charleston? That's the name of the town "in South Carolina" you couldn't remember.
The_REAL_Ecumenist
(719 posts)forgot the name of the CITY? Not that it's ANY of your motherfucking business but My father;s side of the family lives primarily in the low country of South Carolina, ( Mayesville, Bishopville, Greenville, celebrating important events like Weddings, Mother's day, Funerals etc) I've been a member of DU since 2001 & recently just came back after surviving cancer, (couldn't remember my password due to Chemo brain) and I can TRULY say that I haven't seen a heartless creep in quite some time. Consider yourself elected to the inaugural place of my ignore list.. Have a happy life..
summer_in_TX
(2,735 posts)are likely to take it as art, maybe morbid, but still worthy commentary?
With raw emotions and a world that has become suddenly far more terrifying and unpredictable for them, this is okay???
PSPS
(13,591 posts)Blindingly apparent
(180 posts)Yes, it is offensive but no more so then Jonathan Swifts proposal to eat Irish babies during the Irish potato famine. It is meant to shock and it does. Jonathan Swift tried to shame the English for their indifference for and cruelty to the plight starving Irish. This group is trying to shame our nation for our indifference towards the killing of innocent youth.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)who has been injured or killed in school mass shootings. I find this totally deplorable. Yes, I went there.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)Try it sometime. I think that that stings and brings back of flood of PTSD type memories that just are not necessary. It is adding hurt to hurt as far as I am concerned. Just call me a flaming liberal when it comes to this type of thing. I do not apologize for my feelings.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Pouring alcohol on an open wound is often painful, but necessary to heal (since we're using bumper stickers and platitudes rather than rational thought).
"I do not apologize for my feelings..."
No one is asking you to.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)Obviously you have not lost someone to insane violence. Until you do your comments are not credible.
tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)Don't want to see anymore like it then remember it's not the 1st Amendment killing kids, it's the 2nd. Apparently the billboard edit has accomplished it's mission which was not to be warm and fuzzy about children being turned into hamburger. And yes, I went there.
Silver1
(721 posts)Insensitive beyond comprehension. It's like saying brutality is the norm, and so, once we accept that, the "revised" billboard is just okay. The point some of us are trying to make here is that neither of these two versions of the billboard are acceptable.
I get what this group of people is doing and I support the effort. But they're not thinking it through.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)as often as there are in America, it's the norm. School shootings are insentsitive beyond comprehensio. So is every talking point the nra says after every shooting. And every politician who regurgitates the nra talkng points is crude and indifferent.
So, the billboard is giving them a very small taste of their own medicine.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)the people affected by the brutality of the attack itself are hit again and again, every time they drive by or see pictures of that billboard. You are right, brutality is the norm for uncaring people. I choose not to be among the uncaring.
Silver1
(721 posts)Me too.
LuvLoogie
(6,995 posts)I think it turns off more people sympathetic to gun control than shames the gun culture or gets them to change their minds.
jeffreyi
(1,939 posts)DeadLetterOffice
(1,352 posts)And I think it's a powerful message. I am not offended, or retraumatized, or whatever.
PSPS
(13,591 posts)tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)I'm so sick of this low post count BS. A low post count means a person doesn't post much and the treatment low posters get is one reason why. By all means, call out the content of a person's post bit their post count is not a proof of anything but the total number of their posts and it cheapens your retort.
Edit: I have been a registered member since 2005. That's 12 years and less than 6000 posts and I don't speak a bit of Russian ot have the letters b-o-t in my name.
The_REAL_Ecumenist
(719 posts)Underwent cancer, heavy chemo & the whole shebang & can't remember the password OR associated email account to save my life. I am so SICK of people who seem to believe that people who have ACTUALLY gone through losing someone in these senseless slaughters expressing their opinion and thoughts about things like this billboards are somehow trolls. If I were a troll, I've sure spent alot of time AND money doing it. DISGUSTING!
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)DeadLetterOffice
(1,352 posts)It is not my intent to speak for all of us survivors, merely for myself.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)A nap, some supper, and your sweet post, and I am ready to carry on the fight. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,848 posts)Among the reasons we continue to have these mass shootings is that too many people want to pretend they haven't happened. It's never the right time to talk about genuine gun control. And we are never shown images of what bullets do to human bodies. I strongly favor showing a few such pictures.
Maybe then more people would understand the genuine horror and finally want to do something. Until then, it will be nothing but hand wringing along with thoughts and prayers. Which do nothing to stop the shootings.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,338 posts)Satire, disgusting and offensive, it's a style thing.
Hopefully, it will be mostly ignored, saving INDECLINE from a "Charlie Hebdo" event.
vercetti2021
(10,156 posts)But...sadly it does hold true. Our guns for your kids in a sense.
CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)...is that Americans generally don't get it and end up responding inappropriately.
.
Vinca
(50,267 posts)Nash Teeth
(57 posts)It's been spurred.
Aristus
(66,319 posts)Bringing a lot of carefully-calculated, prime-time-ready outrage with them.
I think the billboard is just what this gun-crazed country needs right now.
Better a shot in the arm than a shot in the head.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)but I joined December 6th. That makes me a new member who should not be under suspicion because I have "a low number of posts". I came here to be able to express my opinion without being torn apart like my right wing family does. Thanks for making me feel at home and valued. (That is sarcasm)
Demsrule86
(68,553 posts)AR 15 hurts way more...and the problem is that you are echoing righty talking points. That is always cause for suspicion. The low post count doesn't help but it is not the entire reason. When do you suppose we should talk about the fact that AR 15's and other guns are being used to murder children? When is it time?
Personally, I think they should have posted the pictures of all the five year olds in Newtown who had to be identified with dental and DNA because very little else was left...let's actually see what the NRA and their sycophants are supporting...the truth will set you free.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)My family is composed of right wing nutjobs who call me out all the time. I came here for some sanity, and guess what. I am still being called out, but this time it is Democrats doing it. Nice to be judge and jury isn't it.
Demsrule86
(68,553 posts)'judging' you just merely explaining my point of view...not everyone will agree with you and guns are a hot button issue here. Let it go...it is fun here. You just have to be able to develop a thicker skin and not let disagreements bother you.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)especially when the topic is about the survivors who have lost someone to gun violence (mass shooting). Weird sense of fun in my opinion.
Demsrule86
(68,553 posts)the humpers have any sympathy for those families who lost loved ones. No, they don't like it but because they know it hurts their gun
humper murder cause...maybe this site is not for you.
It is a right wing meme that after a shooting we shouldn't say stuff or call out gun humpers because of " sensitivity" for the 'families'. It is also complete bullshit.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)If someone says they are hurt by something, other people do not have the right to tell them they do not hurt.
Demsrule86
(68,553 posts)accept that people here have differing opinions and tend to be suspicious of new folks who appear divisive.. It is a fact that as soon as there is a shooting Ryan and the other asshats send thoughts and prayers...and opine that now is not the time for a discussion or action on guns...this is why it is a GOP meme...personally I hope all the gun humpers were offended by that billboard...they deserve to be offended for what their selfish disregard for human life is causing...the death of our kids and and fellow citizens... I have a message for the GOP, I don't intend to live like this...gun rights were not 'the' issue for me, but they are now...I am not alone.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)What I have found is that there are people here who only hear what they want to hear and assume a lot based on very little knowledge. It is disappointing to say the least. However, after seeing that the majority of the people here are open to discussion, I will stay after all. Yes, I was almost driven out of DU by some "well meaning" people who feel they have to beat a dead horse. And by the way, I fight the good fight for reasonable gun control in my own family every day. But for some reason there are people here that do not hear that. This is my last post on this thread. Enough is enough!
Demsrule86
(68,553 posts)pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)I have no place in DU and it breaks my heart. Thank you for attacking me without knowing who I am or where I come from. You have proven your point. I don't belong on DU so my only option is to go back into the shadows where I had no voice. My right wing nutjob family does not give me the right to hold my own opinions, and I guess neither do some of the members here.
Silver1
(721 posts)Find another venue. Another way of expressing your view.
I've been her 4 days and I've already been accused of, well basically, treason. A Putin troll. All because I didn't agree with this crap billboard paste-up.
I posted a "Hello, I'm new here" in the Lounge discussion board like it was suggested by the moderators, and people there are still welcoming me! They're being very kind, but I'm out of here after this experience.
I have done a lot of work for the progressive cause in my life, and have personal family stories of my own that are brutal. And to have some whoosy come along and say I don't have enough posts in her comfy thousand post land to have a right to an opinion, really brings the entire thing down to miserable.
The moderators really need to do something about this as I've seen it happen to others here. I mean, what does it say about a "progressive" who resorts to McCartian tactics when someone disagrees with them? That is NO progressive. And, from what I have experienced in my own family history, that person is dangerous.
I'm going on, but what I'm saying is that I'm disappointed too. I know there are good people here, but this is really too much. I'm going to find another place to put my energy.
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)Until you do you do not get a vote.
Demsrule86
(68,553 posts)a guy with a gun...serial killer. He had killed all the way from California to Virginia...He killed more after he shot my cousin too. But they got him. He made my cousin beg for his life and then shot him...several times. How does not calling out gun humpers injure those who have lost loved ones...including you? Why does this offend you and somehow hurt you?
pazzyanne
(6,549 posts)That's how it hurts some people. It is cruel punishment for some people who have lost loved ones in this manner. There is a quote "If you have hurt someone, you don't get to decide if they are hurt."
Demsrule86
(68,553 posts)murdered my cousin brought his gun at a gun show we were told.
dreamland
(964 posts)They didn't take account that most tRumpers don't get satire. There needs to be ads that needs to shock the tRumpers into getting the message.