Sending The Wrong Message? I Don't Think So

Some community activists in St. Louis are saying that the billboards advertising the NRA Annual Meeting are sending the "wrong message." Rev. B. T. Rice is the head of the St. Louis branch of the NAACP and he objects to the billboards.

The leader of St. Louis’ NAACP is calling out the National Rifle Association, saying the group is delivering the wrong message at the wrong time as it prepares for its national convention in St. Louis next week. The Reverend B.T. Rice was discussing the county police shooting of fifteen year old Lavon Peete when he was asked about the NRA billboards that have flooded the city.

“The advertisement says we’ll have acres and acres of guns,” Rice observed. “A clear dichotomy between the NRA and those of us who deal with these sort of situations on a day to day basis.”

Rice and some other community leaders are calling for a gun violence (sic) summit in St. Louis. Rev. Rice would like to hold it concurrently with the NRA Annual Meeting.

Lavon Peete, mentioned above, was shot and killed by St. Louis County Police after he refused to drop a "sawed off rifle" he was point at them. While his family denies he was armed, others who were with him at the time confirm he was armed. As to what a "sawed off rifle" is, it is never specified in any of the stories.

Steven King, owner of Metro Shooting Supply in the St. Louis suburb of Bridgeton, says he thinks an anti-violence summit would be a good idea. That is, he says if "they look at the true causes of the violence and not the tools people are using to commit violence.”

As to whether the billboards are sending the wrong message, I most certainly don't think they are sending the wrong message.