The city of Flagstaff, Ariz., recently told Rob Wilson, owner and founder of Timberline Firearms & Training in Flagstaff, that he can no longer run an ad for his store and range in a local airport. This is a clear First Amendment infringement designed to cancel use of our Second Amendment rights.
Wilson’s struggle to retain his American freedom is regional, but it says a lot about what is happening now in many areas of this nation.
“Our ad ran thousands and thousands of times over the baggage claim belt at our local airport and there were no complaints. But this year, when we tried to run it during the summer peak season, the city of Flagstaff determined that somehow our video depicted violence. And they have a policy that prohibits depicting violence in advertising,” says Wilson.
But that doesn’t make sense, as the gun-safety courses he teaches as an NRA-certified firearms instructor are designed to help people handle guns safely and to, potentially, stop violent criminals who might come for them.
“The city of Flagstaff’s city council apparently has an issue not really with violence, however, as they have since decided to revise their policy,” says Wilson. “Their new policy eliminates the violence and anti-social behavior paragraph and replaces it with one that specifically targets firearms. Banning advertising of firearms sales, rentals, use, ammunition or any associated type of business is their proposed new policy.”
The “anti-social” claim is also counterintuitive, as there’s just nothing more social than going to a range, hanging out with good friends, or just meeting people and shooting. It’s a very social experience.
But those reasons were seemingly dropped and a new policy is being floated that bans all gun-related advertising.
When Wilson pushed back, he says he had a meeting with the city attorney. “They thought we should compromise somehow,” says Wilson. “They thought we should just not include firearms in our ad and then it might be okay. I said, ‘I spent 22 years in the Navy defending our Constitution and our rights, and I am not about to let a city council and mayor just walk all over my rights now.’”
They city attorney indicated that Timberline Firearms & Training’s ad “made them uncomfortable,” says Wilson.
So he offered to take anyone from the city council onto his range for one-on-one instruction, so they can become comfortable with their own freedom. None of the council members even replied to the offer, says Wilson.
This case—and the video interview shown here—exposes how hard it can be to talk to officials who only want to cancel this American freedom.
