Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
The folks over at Slidefire put up a pretty awesome billboard over in the Chicago area, and the Misguided Moms are losing their minds about it over on the Lamar Advertising Facebook Page.
The hilarious part about this is that nearly every argument from the anti-rights crowd was a logical fallacy of one type or another. Not a single fact based argument. Not. One.
Let’s begin with the “Appeal to Emotion” fallacy first:
“When you or someone close to you is shot, it becomes personal & your answer to those asking you not to promote the proliferation of guns will change. It has touched my family & myself & it IS personal. Please do not be a part of the proliferation of firearms in this country.”
“apple pie, baseball, and… an assault rifle !!! are you crazy ??? what are you telling our kids ?? our grandkids ??? our citizens ??? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES ! as a retired peace officer, I find your billboard the worst ever.”
Next up, we have the “ad hominem” attacks: “…there is something really wrong with your thinking”, “weapons of slaughter”, etc…
“You certainly can reject an ad you find offensive. It is your right. And if you don’t find it offensive, and need the money that much, then there is something really wrong with your thinking. It really is disgraceful and you should be ashamed to in any way be part of promoting something that has caused so much bloodshed and heartache in this country. Shame on you.”
“Thanks to all those who have expressed their opinion about the unnecessary glorification of a weapon designed to kill. You speak for those unfortunate Americans, over 31,000 a year, who cannot speak for themselves. Keep up the good work, and do not let them intimidate. We all have the right to live in a nonviolent world.
“Semi-automatic weapons are not as American as baseball and apple pie. My 2-year-old daughter and I live in Chicago. Please don’t promote gun violence.”
“Assault weapons belong on a battlefield. The streets of our nation should not be a battlefield. Get rid of the sign that equates these random death dealing weapons with baseball and apple pie. It’s a lie. There is no joy in the destruction caused by assault weapons.”
Now let’s move on to the “slippery slope” fallacy: “You sell advertising to this person, so clearly this will lead to you selling it to that person”
“That baseball, apple pie and assault weapons billboard is disgusting. You support the first amendment, but does that mean you would sell ad space to the KKK or a neo-nazi group?”
“Do you have any idea how encouraging people to think assault weapons are as American as apple pie is the same thing as saying that we should all just EXPECT another mass murder. Horrifying! How can you people sleep at night?”
I could go on, and on, and on, but I’m getting tired of clipping all of the quotes, so if you want to see more of these poorly put together arguments, head over to the Lamar Advertising Facebook page, and have yourself a good ol’ time.
