Want a surefire way to rile up West Hollywood's progressive community? Plaster pro-gun posters combining the Gadsden and rainbow flags all over the city. That'll do it.
On Thursday, WeHo residents awoke to a sea of rainbow flags featuring the Gadsden rattlesnake symbol and the hashtag, #ShootBack. They were posted anonymously throughout neighborhoods, including outside popular gay bar The Abbey and in front of City Hall.
The mysterious campaign was obviously in response to the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida just four days prior. It was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history and could have been followed by another attack at the L.A gay pride parade had it not been for a routine traffic stop.
In the aftermath of the attack, Democrats have been quick to blame lax gun laws and the NRA for making such mass carnage possible. So the pro-gun signs have come as quite a shock in the notoriously liberal community.
City officials are having none of it. Public Works Department officials have been taking the posters down, Councilman John Duean said, "because we don't allow the posting of any sign on our trees or poles." But there's no doubt that they also have a problem with the pro-gun, retaliatory message at a time when Democratic lawmakers are pushing for tougher restrictions on firearms.
Many residents feel the same way. One woman said the posters were playing right into the hands of the NRA. The owner of the Abbey said a ban on assault weapons would do far more to enact positive change. But with 49 dead and 53 wounded, sometimes you just want to kick some butt.
Read more about the mysterious posters here.
Image Credit: Flickr User gazeronly, https://flic.kr/p/ebYMiU via (CC BY-ND 2.0)