Rolling my eyes so far I can see the inside of my skull....

[Joan]

Prada pulls figurines that resembled blackface from New York store

Resembles? RESEMBLES??

[Rutabaga]

As per the thread title. I just heard a trail for a news item: 'A children's shooting range on the Wirral has said it sees no reason to apologise for using an image of Shamima Begum as a target.'

[Joan]

[Rutabaga]

Oh, apparently they have targets with Donald Trump on as well, and they were only responding to public demand. Children as young as 6 may use the range.

[Joan]

Honestly, about 60% of my offence (and genuine concern) is that they are teaching children to point guns at people. Who those people are is less important.

It might make sense in the US, where people buy guns for self defence, and where their only target will be a person. But even there, the targets are typically an outline head and torso, and they are taught to shoot the torso (most likelihood of a hit), but this picture is just the head and shoulders, so it's not even instructional, it's just teaching kids a very dangerous lesson.

[LowlifeDes]

I would imagine that the Lewes bonfire society have started work already.

[Joan]

Aside: since the original post, this happened

[JohnToo]

Honestly, about 60% of my offence (and genuine concern) is that they are teaching children to point guns at people. Who those people are is less important.

It might make sense in the US, where people buy guns for self defence, and where their only target will be a person. But even there, the targets are typically an outline head and torso, and they are taught to shoot the torso (most likelihood of a hit), but this picture is just the head and shoulders, so it's not even instructional, it's just teaching kids a very dangerous lesson.

Isn't giving kids guns, no matter who they point them at, a dangerous lesson?

Personally, I think that target shooting as a sport runs the risk of legitimising and sanitising gun use as an instrument of power. If you challenged me as to where I draw the line I couldn't give you a clear answer - archery? javelin? - but I am definitely uneasy at using guns, basically designed to kill, for recreation. ("definitely uneasy" rather than "definitely opposed")

[Rutabaga]

Sticky wicket - bows and arrows are also 'designed for killing'. Army range targets have featured a silhouette of a soldier in combat dress for years, it was the idea of a child shooting a recognisable individual in the face that I found particularly sickening. That and the fact that the denizens of this place requested it.

[JohnToo]

I agree that bows and arrows are also designed for killing - hence my acknowledgement that I don’t really know where the line gets drawn. I think you could argue a difference in that, as far as i’m aware, bows and arrows are not currently developed and used for killing people whereas guns are - the evolutionary paths of sporting and killing separated some time ago for archery whereas they are still intertwined for guns. But I don’t actually think that’s the key difference. I think bows and arrows are a harking back to a nostalgic bygone era of village greens and Robin Hood whereas guns are more modern - an analogue of how we love dry stone walls but hate wind turbines.

I’ve always assumed that the military use depersonalised targets because if they used personalised targets, they would have a harder job overcoming people’s inhibitions at killing people. Isn’t it fairly well established that we are more ready to hurt people the less we see them as actual real individual people?

[Regulator]

Sticky wicket - bows and arrows are also 'designed for killing'. Army range targets have featured a silhouette of a soldier in combat dress for years, it was the idea of a child shooting a recognisable individual in the face that I found particularly sickening. That and the fact that the denizens of this place requested it.

I am someone who shoots regularly (not airsoft though - proper air rifles and rifles, and occasionally a shotgun) at a gun club.

We do sometimes use comedy targets (e.g. during the 'Zombie Shoot') - and I think a cartoon Adolf Hitler may have made an appearance - but there's no way the club would allow pictures of living people to be used.

On the regular range shoots, people can bring their own targets but anyone producing something like that would most likely be escorted from the premises and potentially have their membership revoked.

[Rutabaga]

Aside: since the original post, this happened

So what do we think of The Noose Hoodie, by Burberry?

[Regulator]

So what do we think of The Noose Hoodie, by Burberry?

I'm not sure whether, within the quoted tweet, an intention is being implied that isn't actually there...


...if you know what I rather inelegantly trying to say.

[Rutabaga]

Whatever their intention might have been, Burberry withdrew the item and apologised.

[JohnToo]

I am someone who shoots regularly (not airsoft though - proper air rifles and rifles, and occasionally a shotgun) at a gun club.

We do sometimes use comedy targets (e.g. during the 'Zombie Shoot') - and I think a cartoon Adolf Hitler may have made an appearance - but there's no way the club would allow pictures of living people to be used.

On the regular range shoots, people can bring their own targets but anyone producing something like that would most likely be escorted from the premises and potentially have their membership revoked.

I am interested in the psychology of shooting. It seems to me that guns have a clear connection with power, status, virility, etc. But they also have a functional aspect - farmers shooting pests - and a skill/sport aspect - target shooting. I am interested (and, I hope, open minded) as to how far these different aspects are intertwined or can be separated, and any insights you can give would be gratefully received. I have to say that the mere words "gun club" conjour up certain (no doubt largely American-derived) connotations.