Chuck Norris Cutout Raising Eyebrows, Fists After CT Shooting
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Five days ago, it was just a cardboard cutout at a store in the mall.
But after what happened in Connecticut, some are calling this opportunity to pose as "Walker, Texas Ranger," with guns blazing, in poor taste.
When a Dallas woman, toting two small children under the age of five saw it, she did something about it.
Mahra Pailet took a trip to NorthPark Center Monday. Pailet thought about her 14-year-old, who didn't make the trip, when she spotted Urban Outfitters. She stepped in to look around.
"About 20-feet into the store, I was confronted by a huge cutout of Chuck Norris. It was about 7 feet tall, a plywood
cutout of Chuck Norris in character holding two guns. And it stopped me cold," she said.
It was set up in the middle of the store.
"Given what has happened recently, the tragedy in Connecticut. I was shocked," she said.
She talked to a store employee who gave her an 800 number to call. Pailet called it and was then told to fill out an email form on the company's website.
"And that's when I decided to take my frustration to Facebook," she said.
She received a quick response through dozens of comments.
"Here's one. 'Mind if I share the picture, Marah?' Of course I said, 'fine.'"
"There's another one that says, "That's just awful. Another one says, 'That's disgusting,'" she read.
One of her friends sent a tweet about it to 4,000 followers. Within hours, the image of the gun blazing, Chuck Norris character was gone.
Some would argue, this is Texas. Others would say, there's a time and place for gun blazing images.
Mahra was confronted by the image with two kids. "They were with me and the association was instantaneous for me," she said.
Outside a nearby coffee shop, Angela Interrante said, "My thinking is the manager probably should've known to take it down."
Shay Burns disagreed. "People get hurt every day. Are we all going to take everything down?"
Dodd Day, stopping for a moment from his afternoon jog, said, "I'm a big gun advocate and NRA fan. But, right now, people are very emotional. We need to be sensitive about that. I think somebody definitely missed that one. They've should've been more sensitive."
This is all Mahra Pailet is asking for.
"There's just a certain sensitivity that I think we're going to have to cultivate if we're all going to live together and move forward," she said.
CBS 11 News contacted Urban Outfitters for a comment. But, we were told to send an email through its website. CBS 11 News did and is still waiting to hear from
the company.
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