Gun Dealer Sponsors Kids T-Ball Team, Puts Crosshairs On Uniform

Sandy, OR – At least one mother is furious over her child’s t-ball uniform, which features a crosshairs on the front of a t-shirt. The team is sponsored by a local gun dealer, hence the controversial logo, but the concerned parent says it’s inappropriate in light of recent events.

The Cal Ripken T-ball League of Sandy, Oregon, is a uni-sex team of children ranging from four to six years of age. The “Ninjas” team is sponsored by the local Rapid Fire Arms store, and kids on the team wear a crosshairs logo on their chests as part of the dealer’s logo.

One mom, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that while she’s grateful to Rapid Fire Arms for sponsoring the team, she thinks that the logos are inappropriate and that children shouldn’t be used to promote guns.

“Cross hairs on the chests of 5 and 6-year-old children is inappropriate,” she told kgw.com. “Especially given the recent tragic events, and especially since gun regulation is a hot button topic right now. We need to be eliminating any sort of association between children and guns, rather than promoting it.”

Brian Coleman, the owner of Rapid Fire Arms, has a son on the team and said that he just wanted to help. He also said that it is important for the gun industry to become positive influences in their respective communities.

“Honestly, I think it’s kind of a positive message that there are people out there that want to help,” he said. “The industry gets a bad rep sometimes and most of us are everyday people that want communities to be safer, happier.”

Coleman said that the logo, a “Trinity” symbol with the letters “RFA” in each “leaf” and a crosshairs in the center, is just his business logo, and that he wasn’t trying to make a statement. Additionally, he said that the kids on the team aren’t even aware that they are sponsored by a gun dealer. They just want to play t-ball.

What do you think? Should those in the gun industry make more of an effort to be positive influences in their respective communities, or is the “crosshairs” logo way over the line? Sound off!

[Image via: kobi nevo, Shutterstock.com]