Billboard Draws Fire For Equating Assault Rifle With Baseball, Apple Pie
(CBS) -- A billboard ad for a gun parts maker is taking a lot of heat tonight in Chicago.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports some call it offensive, others call it freedom of speech.
The sign sits off busy Interstate 55, west of Harlem Avenue. It pairs a rifle with what some say are "pure American" symbols like baseball and Apple pie.
The message is drawing fire from community activists like Father Michael Pfleger.
It's part of a campaign launched in January by firearm parts manufacturer Slide Fire.
Its "pure American" company slogan can be seen by drivers headed into Chicago. Pfleger says it's inappropriate.
"Is this really how our country wants to be seen as our way of life?" he says.
But Andre Queen of Fidelity Investigative Training Academy has a different opinion.
"I like the sign. When I saw it, it gave me kind of a rush of American pride," he says.
Queen trains security officers, police and handgun owners.
Lamar Advertising and Slide Fire could not be reached for comment.