Virginia Firm Sells Gun Targets Resembling Trayvon Martin [1]
Submitted by Sara Jerving [2] on
An online gun retailer has been criticized for promoting an advertisement for shooting targets that resemble 17-year-old shooting victim Trayvon Martin. The target depicted a hooded figure holding skittles and tea with crosshairs on his chest. Martin was reportedly holding skittles and tea when he was shot dead -- in the chest -- by George Zimmerman in Florida in February 2012. The horrific shooting of the unarmed youth led to a national conversation [3] about the NRA-crafted Stand Your Ground/Shoot to Kill law and the role the American Legislative Exchange Council [4] played in spreading the Florida law across the nation.
According to the ad, the sellers stated [5] they, "support Zimmerman and believe he is innocent and that he shot a thug." The ad was reportedly [6] placed by the Hiller Armament Company of Virginia and has since been removed from the site where it was hosted, GunBroker.com.
The unidentified seller told a reporter [5] at Orlando's WKMG, "My main motivation was to make money off the controversy," and that he sold out of the targets in two days.
"It's outrageous that someone would try and exploit such a horrific situation as an unarmed teen being gunned down, and profit off something so vile and disgusting as a gun target silhouette," said [7] Hilary Shelton, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Washington bureau.