Oh Kim, Kim, Kim. Just a few weeks after Kim Kardashian urged her 17 million Twitter followers to sign a pledge to reduce gun violence in the wake of Sandy Hook, the mommy-to-be tweeted a photo of ... a gun.
"Today, people in Newtown are making the #sandyhookpromise to reduce gun violence. Sign the pledge with me," Kim wrote a few weeks ago.
Aw, that’s great, right? Kim K. is sad about the tragedy and she’s using her fame for the common good! Hooray! But what’s this? Tweeted last Saturday via Kim’s Instagram account, and since removed (nice try Kim but the interwebs is forever):
Yes, it was a jewel-encrusted handgun -- not exactly an automatic weapon of mass destruction, but hello? Is anyone home? Just because a gun is covered in shiny sparkly diamonds and comes with a chic little carrying pouch doesn't mean it’s somehow not deadly.
In a different time, perhaps in the future, when we’ve made some progress with gun control and the reduction of gun violence in America, then maybe we can have a public dialogue about the merits of a responsibly owned, jewel-encrusted handgun. I look forward to that day, in fact. After all, gun control advocates are not talking about banning all guns from the face of the Earth, or even of America. Gun control is about safe, responsible ownership, about requiring and enforcing background checks and licenses, and about keeping incredibly violent automatic weapons that can take multiple lives within seconds out of people’s hands.
I’m not the only one to find Kim’s photo outrageous: while some of her Twitter followers have come to Kim’s defense, many others are tweeting things like, "@KimKardashian You have too much influence to be this blind and ignorant. Innocent children & people still die even if the gun is pretty."
Repeat after me, Kim: guns are not cool. We want to limit the amount of gun violence in America, right? Isn't that what we, your loyal Twitter minions, just promised to do at YOUR REQUEST?
Kim has posted gun photos before, including one of her at a shooting range and one of a pistol with the Yves Saint Laurent logo (both times with the same caption: "Bang bang"). I didn't hear about those at the time and I don’t think I would have cared much. But I care now, because the devastating tragedy of Sandy Hook launched a vitally important public conversation about gun control in this country -- a conversation that Kim herself decided to take part in. And right now, in this climate, with so much at stake, it’s downright irresponsible to be glamorizing guns. When you see a gun, you should think of 20 murdered children, not a pretty party accessory for a rich reality show star.
Was it irresponsible of Kim to post that photo of a diamond-studded gun?
Images via HollywoodPR/Flickr and kimkardashian/Instagram
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Comments 28
Oh, whatever!
I cannot fathom how it makes more sense to ban gun because they are "evil" but not harshly punish the people who misuse them. The gun is a tool, the problem is the person behind it. Make the person behind it take responsibility for their actions, not " well, if he only had not had a gun". That's bullshit. Because I have a lot of guns and I have never pointed my personally owned weapons at another human being, ever. Why punish me?
"Guns are cool" <-- that right there is the culture we need to change. I know its hard for a pro-gun person to understand and I know I will never chance their minds. But guns are NOT cool. They are not toys. They should not be bejeweled. A gun fetish is something to keep to yourself. JMHO.
Jesus Christ, just because you have a gun doesn't mean you're going to use it for violence! Get over yourself!