What did Chuck Norris ever do to you?
A Dallas-area clothing store, Urban Outfitters, displayed a painted plywood poster of Chuck Norris as Walker, Texas Ranger with an American flag in the background and a gun in each hand. The face was an oval cutout so you could stand behind the board and put your own mug where Chuck’s would have been.
One woman thought this was in poor taste in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting. She first complained to employees and then went to Facebook. “Just awful,” said one follower. “Disgusting,” said another. It wasn’t long before the store removed the poster. (Online: ChuckNorrisGuns.notlong.com)
Sensitivity is one thing, but total loss of context is a sort of mental malfunction. I remember a case in the news a few years back where an elementary school student was expelled because he drew a picture of a gun and adults went nuts. But a picture of a gun is not a threat. Even a real gun is not a threat unless it’s misused.
Every time there’s a shooting, are we now going to ban pictures of guns for a month, including all movie billboards, and then throw a tarp over all the real guns in sporting goods stores across America? Get a grip. A dialogue about gun violence may be appropriate, but this is ridiculous.
Note that Chuck Norris only shoots BAD GUYS in his shows. I wish somebody like Walker, Texas Ranger had been at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14.