Texas Gun Instructor’s Ad Draws Fire
On a YouTube clip that has gone viral, central Texas handgun instructor Crockett Keller defiantly tells Muslims and non-Christian Arabs he won't teach them how to handle a firearm.
"If you are a socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner-in-chief, please do not take this class," Keller says in the ad's closing seconds, also taking a swipe at President Barack Obama.
"You've already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision as required under the law. Also, if you are a non-Christian Arab or Muslim, I will not teach you this class. Once again, with no shame, I am Crockett Keller."
YouTube viewers around the world have seen this home-made ad for Keller's business in the small community of Mason, about a hundred miles east of Austin.
Reaction is mixed. Some people say they admire him. Others say they're embarrassed. They say it misrepresents their community.
State officials see the ad as possible discrimination. The Department of Public Safety is investigating, and it could revoke Keller's license to teach handgun courses.
Muslim groups have dismissed Keller as a bigot, but the Council on American-Islamic Relations is watching to see how the state responds to the ad.
The demographics in that small community make you wonder why Keller started this fight. Mason is almost 100 percent white, at least 70 percent Republican, and there are no Muslims anybody knows about.
There was no need for Keller to go out of his way to antagonize people who have little or no interest in handgun training. Whatever the state does to him will be a self-inflicted wound.
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