Valley gun store criticized for “back to school” wording in promotion
The store is called Tombstone Tactical.
The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.
Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.
I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.
"The title of the program is called ‘Shoot now, pay later,'" said Smith, explaining the "no interest for nine months" program he was promoting.
Underneath the words "shoot now, pay later," Smith wrote: “Now that the kids are back in school, it’s a perfect time to take advantage of some great specials that we have priced to be the lowest available in the country.”
Some customers were not happy with the promoted deal.
“How that could be missed is shocking...it’s shocking,” said Marty Ryan, a customer from New Mexico who read the newsletter Monday morning when he got into work.
“I cannot believe these guys put this together as a promotion. Especially when they use the phrase, 'now that the kids are back in school, let’s have an assault rifle sale,'” said Ryan.
The store is called Tombstone Tactical.
The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.
Ryan emailed the store, and Smith said he personally replied explaining the confusion and offering apologies.
“There is no way we would ever encourage violence at all,” said Smith.
The small business owner says he is confident most customers did not misinterpret the promotion.
“The idea of the email was to highlight, we just spent a bunch of money on our kids - now it’s time to spend a little bit of money on ourselves,” said Smith. “I would apologize to anyone who took offense to that. We sent that email out to well over 200,000 people and I only received three negative responses to that email.”
Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.
I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.