Gun store in Texas faces backlash over back-to-school sale on firearms
A gun store in Texas is facing backlash after advertising a back-to-school sale on firearms.
The Boyert Shooting Center in Katy, Tex. is at the center of the controversy, according to local news station KTRK, after a resident named Michelle Simons sent a photo of the store’s marquee to the outlet that read, “Back to school sale August 13 - 18. Up to 50% off firearms.”
Yahoo Lifestyle was unable to get in touch with Simons. However, she told KTRK that she and her husband were driving around the area when they saw the sign and felt that the message was “jarring.”
“In the current climate, in the current culture where we’ve got school shootings constantly, mass shootings constantly, it seems like a real poor choice of words to have a back to school sale up to 50 percent off on firearms,” Simons said. “Makes no sense to me.”
Simons also explained that her husband is an educator who expressed his discomfort with the idea of pairing firearms and school as some sort of marketing ploy.
“It’s one of those things like as a marketing strategy was it intentional?” Simons questioned. “Did they want to get attention from a sign like that or did they really not even think about what they were doing?”
Boyert Shooting Center didn’t immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, their statement to KTRK reveals that the wording was no mistake.
“We have friends and family who are teachers and our way of reaching out and saying thank you is by offering a summer long promotion of discounted training courses, firearms and accessories,” the statement reads. “A lot of Texans are not aware, but it is now legal to conceal carry in some colleges, and for teachers in certain school districts to conceal carry as well. We are wrapping up the program that we have been running since the beginning of June, with a huge sale to benefit everyone.”
One Twitter user pointed out that this isn’t the first time that the store has tried to be “provocative” in their advertising. In fact, their marquee previously read, “We’re not all d****. We still sell AR’s.”
In the wake of this recent marketing scheme, Simons posed the question, “What does going back to school have anything to do with getting guns?”
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