OfficerBlueMartinsburg, WV – A police officer who owns Warrior 12 Apparel has been the target of anti-gun voices after his latest design launched this week.
Warrior 12 makes law enforcement and patriotic apparel, including our Blue Lives Matter shirts.
The owner’s newest design shows a rifle next to the words, “I’ll control my guns, you control your kids.” After the shirt launched, it was shared over 30,000 times in the first couple of days on social media.
“This is saying what everyone is thinking,” one commenter said.
However, after the shirt launched, the officer says that he’s been flooded with hate messages.
“I’ve been having people accuse me of being responsible for the school shootings, of having blood on my hands” he told Blue Lives Matter. “They are conflating a shirt about Constitutional rights and personal responsibility with horrific acts of mass murder.”
“I’ve been accused of just being a pawn of the gun industry, of supporting the purchase of firearms,” he added. “Well I do support the purchase of firearms. As a police officer, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when people’s only option is to wait several minutes, or longer, for officers to arrive. In fact, if we sell enough shirts, I’m going to buy more guns.”
CLICK HERE to get your “Gun Control” Shirt from Warrior 12.
The shirt company owner said that he understands that people are upset about school shootings, but that’s why he says that people should be looking at the root causes of violence.
“Guns don’t cause violence,” he said. “If we can examine and work on the actual root causes of violence, then that’s when we’ll see a reduction in violent acts.”