Gun Culture

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Barnados Ad Kerfuffle

Barnados have produced an ad which can be seen via the article on the BBC website which appears to depict some country dwellers, the shot of the chicken I think is meant to show they have shot it, who complain about feral brats and the go out on a brat hunt.
Some shooters have got their knickers very much in a twist over this, indeed BASC successfully called on the ad to be withdrawn

The film clearly shows sporting guns being used by the adults wearing country clothing. The style is graphic and realistic, and it makes no attempt to show the weapons are illegal. In fact it depicts extreme, Illegal and shocking behaviour which risks encouraging precisely the behaviour that Barnardo’s seeks to campaign against.

An extract from the apology by Barnardos Director of Communications, Diana Tickell

This film in no way intended to negatively portray legitimate shooting sports or offend BASC or your members and any offence caused is entirely unintentional.

I’m inclined to think this is a lie.  What she really means is that they thought shooters to be fair game and had no idea that we’d have a go at them.

Now back to the ad itself.  I don’t really feel that shooters were likely to suffer from this in anyway, most people will see this ad and think ‘What a load of old shite’ - it will in no way have advanced Barnados cause one jot.  All it will have done is make Barnados look foolish in the extreme.
This is another case where legitimate concerns over a minority of a cross section of society having a major negative impact on society at large is met by mealy mouthed attempts to turn it in to an attack on the whole.  There was a similar effect to this seen locally where dispersal orders were placed on certain areas where youths congregate.  Gangs of youths were told to move on and powers were in place to escort them home or put them in the stocks or somesuch if they failed to comply.  The fuss that ensued made it sound like anyone under 16 was going to be shot on sight.
The usual rubbish about ‘Not all kids are little bastards’ was trotted out.  The thing is some of these kids causing problems maybe aren’t little bastards, but groups of youths hanging out around shop entrances are at best a nuisance and intimidating even to the likes of me.  They may well not be actively intended to cause nuisance but they are, either by their rough housing spilling over or just the noise and litter they create.  Some do actively cause nuisance and they must be shown by the law and by the wider community that this behaviour is unacceptable.  Guardianista thinking has created this problem and yet the Guardianistas are the first to defend the behaviour.
Feral youths empowered by the legal system aren’t just a nuisance, they kill people and ruin the lives of others.  For the wankers at Barnados to suggest that the anger felt by the wider population at this situation is wrong is an insult.

I wonder if the same tossers that moaned about the Land Rover advert a few years back which featured a starting pistol complained about this one?  Doubt it.  They’re the same subset, the same Guardiansta wankers.  I thought at first that complaining about the appearance of shotguns in the Barnados ad was petty, clearly no one with half a brain cell would equate these images with a clay shooter or game shot.  However the tactics have paid off in that the ad is withdrawn with apology and Barnados look stupid.  So if their tactics work for them, why not give them a little back?