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Opinion: Gun Dealers Shouldn't Take Aim at Little Leaguers
Filed under: Opinions
Two boys in Venezuela hold their toy guns at a baseball game. How would that fly in New Jersey? Credit: Pedro Rey/AFP/Getty Images
Hey kids, when you're stealing first base or making that game-winning homer, think about the nice people at Chesterfield who made it all possible.
That's right, Chesterfield -- the same smooth, great-tasting cigarette that put Grandpa in the iron lung -- could be on the back of your team jersey. Think of it as their way of getting you to smoke.
Or how about the Captain Morgan Rum Company sponsoring your team? Just drink responsibly, boys and girls.
It's not like the local pot grower is sponsoring the team. Alcohol and tobacco are both legal industries. So is firearms. The three of them go together like, well, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
What is wrong with a perfectly legitimate business sponsoring a local baseball team? Matt Carmel, a licensed gun dealer in New Jersey, demanded that answer when his application to sponsor a youth baseball team was rejected.
Let's see if I can explain this to him. Most of us, I imagine, think that certain things -- say alcohol, tobacco and firearms -- should not be advertised to or promoted among children.
Not that I have anything against arming kids. Some youngsters have parents who are military veterans, experienced hunters or otherwise practiced in the use of firearms. Growing up in Alaska, I owned a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle when I was 11. Still, I was always under the watchful eye of my father, a former Marine Corps marksman.
But even in Alaska, Smith & Wesson didn't sponsor our hockey team ( though things may have changed now that Sarah Palin has been governor).
It's one thing to have your parent or other responsible adult teach you how to use a deadly weapon. It's quite another to promote firearms across the board for all kids, whether their mother is Donna Reed or their father is Al Capone.
Your Uncle Horace may give you your first little sip of brandy when you're 8. But that's a lot different from having Budweiser sponsor your chess league.
It's the same reason you don't see ads for chewing tobacco in Boy's Life.
You see what I'm trying to say, Mr. Carmel?
No, of course not.
No doubt you still see this as another symptom of our liberal, namby-pamby gun-hating society. Sigh. Where would political causes be without their persecution complexes?
You argue that a local convenience store gets to sponsor a team, and it sells alcohol and tobacco, so why not your business? You really can't see the difference between a store that sells those things as part of a much wider inventory, and your business, Constitution Arms?
"I want to advocate for the Second Amendment," Carmel says. "I think it's extremely important. It's important to show my kids that you stand up for what you believe. You don't take it lying down."
Bully for you. In that same spirit of freedom, say that Michael Moore and Janeane Garofalo or the local ACLU chapter want to sponsor a team -- would you be as zealous defending their First Amendment as you are at defending the Second?
There are plenty of lessons children learn through sports. Adult activities should not be one of them.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-11-2010 @ 4:32PM
Julie said...Did you even read the original new article?
The man doesn't sell firearms, he holds classes and safety courses, and is a licensed dealer but does not stock weapons. Which means that he can order you something if you have a product in mind, but he isn't selling guns to kids. He's running SAFETY CLASSES.
He also stated in the article that he wasn't surprised to be turned down but wanted to offer despite knowing that he may be rejected. He asked for a reason after the rejection, and was told that the objection was to the company name, NOT it's business. He was told he could sponsor if the word "arms" wasn't in his logo, and he jokingly asked if the word "guns" was acceptable. He is now sponsoring a different sports team, I believe it was lacrosse.
How is it wrong for kids to be sponsored by a man/company that promote safe and legal use of firearms?
Reply
3-11-2010 @ 4:53PM
bill said...Why are military recruiters allowed talk kids into taking an oath to uphold the constitution, then are forced by order to violate that very
constitution by fighting in an undeclared war -that is forbidden by the constitution? kids should be taught that you kill for "real at the moment" self-defense, or maybe even legitimate revenge. But to kill someone you never interacted with in the first place,for lies and oil is sacreligious to one who cherishes the study of the applied art of violence and it's sometimes necessary use. and BTW lots of ppl beat ppl to death with minor league baseball bats
Reply
3-12-2010 @ 12:50PM
Bill said...Tom, where to begin with this tripe? Corporations do not sponsor little league teams, local small business owners do. Budweiser is not going to sponsor a little league team, the local Zippy Mart is. Smith and Wesson is not going to sponsor a team, Joe's Sporting Goods is. This is a typical bait and switch, your argument is an EPIC FAIL.
What is better, teaching children responsible gun handling at an early age, or provoking their curiosity by hiding inanimate objects? Holding back knowledge that could keep them from injured or killed is now a good thing? Such twisted logic could only come from a lib.
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3-12-2010 @ 2:47PM
Lawrence J. Braico said...Tom Henderson, YOU HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE! But you are indicative of a whole class of know-it-alls who sincerely believe you spout from knowledge itself.
Example: "The three of them go together like, well, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms."
Uh NO!!! ATF was orginally formed solely as a tax collecting agency. The fact that "firearms" are a part of its name is a sad inclusion of an honorable and necessary means through which your right to go off half cocked was established, maintained and continues to be maintained. I use the word 'sad' because to lump firearms in with alcohol and tobacco is such a slander, for alcohol and tobacco do not enjoy the destinction of ever have been called upon to establish, save and perpetuate life, liberty and the persuit of happiness. Do do so is like lumping grandma in with prostitutes.
Your comment:"There are plenty of lessons children learn through sports. Adult activities should not be one of them," fly's in the face of the throngs of adults with their 10 year olds and over in tow who annually have to be truned away from this state's NRA affiliated gun clubs that host "Youth Day at the Range" to shoot, among other guns, AR 15's and youth model 20 gauge shotguns, due to those clubs facilities being swamped beyond their capabilities to provide enough instructors and shooting ports.
If this country's freedoms under the Bill of Rights survive to enable free discourse like we have here today it woun't be because of our "current" and rapidly disappearing Right(?) to ingest smoke and Ethel Alcohol, - who is, BTW, no 'lady,' but it damn well "will", as all history teaches, depend on force of arms. Ask your father "The Marine."
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3-12-2010 @ 3:23PM
SKL said...I'd much rather take my kids to a gun store or have them trained in the gun-oriented sports than have them frequent a convenience store. Convenience stores' purpose is to make money off kids' and adults' consumption of sugar, salt, fat, tobacco, alcohol, gambling (lottery tickets), artificial colors / flavors / preservatives, tabloids, and a lot of unnecessary packaging. The more the better! But you think that's a lot more wholesome than a legitimate youth and adult sport. OK.
If you really think gun safety is only for adults, you are ignorant as well as biased.
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