Debate Magazine

Ole Miss Rejects Gun Shop Sponsorship

Posted on the 08 October 2011 by Mikeb302000
 The Sun Herald reports
University of Mississippi officials say they are protecting its brand by refusing to allow an Oxford gun shop owner to sponsor a university hockey club.
University attorney Lee Tyner told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that no student organization is authorized to sell sponsorships that pair one of the university’s logos with that of a business.
In his whining and complaining, the rejected sponsor, Nathan Yow, owner of Mississippi Auto Arms Inc., pointed out that the University of Mississippi does have a relationship with a casino.
“When you go to an Ole Miss football game, every other slide that comes on the scoreboard is for Gold Strike Casino, so if you openly accept donations for casinos, how’s that any different from firearms?” he told the Daily Journal.
He raises a good point, a thought-provoking one. I suppose if I were in charge, there'd be no advertising from the casino either, but to consider the gambling business the same as the gun business is just silly.
This is one of the tactics of the pro-gun crowd, to keep trying to present guns as just another tool, to keep trying to present gun shops as no different than any other business. It's all lies.
This is what the open-carry movement is all about.  They represent the most blatant attempt to mainstream guns and gun rights, and they're usually met with derision.
The really wacky gun advocates even say there is biblical justification for owning and carrying guns. But the fact is, far from carrying an AK-47 himself to support them, Jesus would call them whited sepulcers.
Gun shops are not like casinos or bakeries or car-repair shops, they are dealers in death. I realize they have legitimate customers who need guns and manage them responsibly, but along with them they also supply straw purchasers and hidden criminals.  They sell to mentally ill folks who wouldn't pass the most cursory psychological screening, if such a thing existed. They add to the problem; they are the problem.
What's your opinion? Is Ole Miss being discriminatory towards Nathan Yow or are they making the right move in disallowing this alliance?
Please leave a comment.

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