Gun debate comes to children's books
A new book is bringing the gun debate to a whole new level: your child鈥檚 bookshelf.听
鈥淢y Parents Open Carry,鈥� by Brian Jeffs and Nathan Nephew, co-founders of the pro-gun Michigan Open Carry, follows 13-year-old Brenna Strong and her family on a 鈥渢ypical聽Saturday聽running errands and having fun together,鈥� the book鈥檚 blurb reads. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 not so typical is that Brenna鈥檚 parents lawfully open carry handguns for self-defense.鈥�
That鈥檚 right, a children鈥檚 picture book starring 鈥� handguns.
The books' authors said they 鈥渓ooked for pro-gun children鈥檚 books and couldn鈥檛 find any,鈥� so they decided to write their own.
"Our goal was to provide a wholesome family book that reflects the views of the majority of the American people, i.e., that self-defense is a basic natural right and that firearms provide the most efficient means for that defense," they .听
The book鈥檚 publisher, White Feather Press, calls 鈥淢y Parents Open Carry鈥� a solution for all the moms and dads out there who 鈥渃arry a gun and sometimes struggle with how to best explain the reasons鈥� to their children, as the reported.
The book鈥檚 cover features blue-eyed Brenna posing with her parents, each with handguns clipped to their belts.
The story begins as parents Dick and Bea 鈥渞etrieve their handguns from the locked gun safe and check them to make sure they are loaded. They place the handguns in their holster 鈥� in plain sight on their hips.鈥澛�
As they go about their day, they run into folks like neighbor Mr. Wright, who praises their decision to 鈥渙pen carry.鈥�
鈥淚 see you are both packin鈥� as usual, good for you,鈥� he says, cheerily. 鈥淵ou just never know when you might need to protect yourself and loved ones鈥�. It鈥檚 best to be prepared I always say.鈥�
The book, not surprisingly, has drawn heated feedback 鈥� positive and negative.听
鈥淚 love it鈥�. boy does this fill a vacuum,鈥� writes Alan Korwin of聽聽on the authors鈥� .
鈥淥utstanding, outstanding 鈥� every person should buy five copies of this book鈥� writes James Towle, host of American Trigger Sports Network.
And from John Roshek, founder of the Citizens League for Self-Defense: 鈥淟oved it, I ordered a copy for our school鈥檚 library.鈥�
Others, however, reacted with horror.听
Children鈥檚 publisher Elizabeth Laws tweeted,
On , many users left tongue-in-cheek comments like this one. 鈥淭his started out as a 5 Star rating, but quickly went downhill as the evening progressed," wrote one reviewer. "After saying our prayers to Jesus and Charlton Heston, I sat on the edge of my kids' bed to read them this book, when I shifted my position and accidentally set off my 9mil that was strapped to my hip, shooting myself in the thigh.鈥澛�
Others poked fun at the book鈥檚 cover (鈥淭he cover was designed by someone who we assume gets off on frightening children with his or her creepy, dead-eye drawings of humans,鈥� writes ), the book鈥檚 grammatical mistakes, even the protagonist鈥檚 clothing (鈥�"Would love to deconstruct everything wrong with this. #1, Open Carry isn't a verb," Laws tweeted. "Bad enough that her parents pack heat, but who made a teen wear a granny blouse? Or tease her hair?鈥�).
On a more serious note, many observers took the opportunity to point out that gun accidents wound or kill tens of thousands of children each year. According to a study in the journal ,聽nearly 10,000 children in the US are injured or killed by firearms every year.鈥�
聽called 鈥淢y Parents Open Carry鈥� "a primer for the children of gun nuts who'll be lucky to see their 10th birthday.鈥�
Readers who order 鈥淢y Parents Open Carry鈥� from the authors鈥� website will, for a limited time, also get a free copy of Doug Giles鈥� 鈥�!鈥澛�
We鈥檙e not kidding.
鈥�Parents, if you have a young son and you want him to grow up to be a man, then you need to keep him away from pop culture, public school and a lot of Nancy Boy churches," the description of the book reads. "If metrosexual pop culture, feminized public schools and the effeminate branches of evanjellycalism lay their sissy hands on him, you can kiss his masculinity good-bye because they will morph him into a dandy. Yeah, mom and dad, if 鈥� if 鈥� you dare to raise your boy as a classic boy in this castrated epoch, then you've got a task that's more difficult than getting a drunk to hit the urinal at Chili's.鈥�
You can add 鈥淢y Parents Open Carry,鈥� and 鈥淩aising Boys Feminists Will Hate,鈥� right next to 鈥�A Rule is to Break: A Child鈥檚 Guide to Anarchy,"听鈥�Maggie Goes on a Diet,鈥澛燼nd 鈥�We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids鈥� Book of Freedom鈥� coloring book.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
