Images Of Terrorists Swapped For Those Of Innocent People At Gun Ranges – The Reason Is As Alarming As The Act

A trio of designers has come up with a series of targets used at gun ranges, which do not bear the typical images of terrorists and zombies, but those of innocent-looking everyday Americans. The duo hope to raise awareness about gun safety.

Law enforcement officers as well as their military counterparts often train at gun ranges to improve their skills and stay sharp. The stationary targets that they shoot at aren’t always concentric circles. Gun targets at ranges often have images of terrorists or militants, while the civilian gun ranges may have images of zombies. Designer Anthony Burrill, art director Ewoudt Boonstra, and copywriter Zack McDonald thought of subtly suggesting the necessity of better law enforcement about guns via these visual targets and swapped out the menacing looking faces with those of innocent everyday run-of-the-mill Americans, reported 67NJ.

America is one of those countries where it is the easiest to legally own a firearm. Surprisingly, the support for stricter gun laws is also waning. Guns seem to offer a feeling of safety, and for many others, it offers a sense of being in control or that of power. However, if one looks at the statistics, majority of the people who got shot in America are related to someone who owns a gun, and at times, it is this firearm or the person who is directly or indirectly responsible for the mishap.

To drive the point home, the designer trio used pictures of ordinary people instead of hoodlums and terrorists that everybody loves blowing apart.

Stressing the need to educate people about personal guns and the violence that permeates from them, Burrill shared, “Ewoudt had the original idea. He was just shocked by the level of gun violence, and the way that guns are part of American culture.”

Needless to say, the trio is quite aware that these dissuasive and thought-provoking posters, titled “Innocent Targets,” won’t be a favorite of people frequenting gun ranges, but nonetheless they hope to put across their point.

“We’re just hoping they’ll go out into the world. We hope people will buy them and they’ll go on their walls not just as an art work, but maybe something that can provoke more of a discussion.”

In fact, a discussion is probably the most that anyone can hope for, since each poster costs £25 each (postage additional). Even if these posters do manage to start a mere discussion, it’s a win since more than 19,000 Americans use a gun to commit suicide each year. The other statistics that these posters reveal are equally startling.

You can view all the posters in large sizes here.

[Image Credit | Anthony Burrill and Robbie Augspurger]