A Texas gun store is under fire after putting up a billboard advertising a “back to school sale” on firearms.
Boyert Shooting Center, in Katy, Texas, put up a billboard saying, "BACK TO SCHOOL SALE. AUGUST 13TH-18TH. UP TO 50% OFF FIREARMS.”
The sale, according to the store’s Facebook page, advertised a semi-automatic .50 caliber gun, which it called a “beast of a rifle,” for $1,000 off.
The gun store came under criticism for advertising the sale after string of mass shootings. The store said in a statement to KTRK that it intended to reach teachers to thank them.
"We have friends and family who are teachers and our way of reaching out and saying thank you is by offering a summer long promotion of discounted training courses, firearms, and accessories,” the store said.
"A lot of Texans are not aware, but it is now legal to conceal-carry in some colleges, and for teachers in certain school districts to conceal-carry as well," the statement continued.
Boyert slammed:
"What does back to school have anything to do with getting guns?" Michelle Simons, whose husband is a teacher in the area, told KTRK. "I hope it was just some kind of glaring oversight. I would rather see any other kind of wording on their board.”
The sale came as lawmakers increasingly call for a ban on assault weapons, like the kind sold in the back-to-school sale.
“Even though the El Paso gunman legally purchased the AK-47-style semi-automatic weapon in Texas, the 21-year-old gunman’s mother called the police weeks before the shooting and said she was worried her son had purchased a gun. But the police shut down her complaint because the sale was perfectly legal,” Vice News reported. “On Monday, ex-military lawmakers called on the House to pass the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019, which would make it a crime for civilians to buying high capacity magazines — which both the El Paso and Dayton shooters used — and weapons designed for war.”
Boyert previously bragged about selling ARs after Parkland:
Boyert previously came under criticism last year when it mocked Dick’s Sporting Goods for ending the sale of AR-15s after the Parkland school shooting last year.
"We're not all Dicks. We still sell AR's,” the store’s billboard said.
