Only in America: Trading guns for sex toys

A porn shop in Huntsville, Ala. is reinventing gun control with a promotion that offers sex toys and other goodies to those who hand in their firearms.

(Image credit: CC BY: zooromancer)

last updated 8 January 2015

The story: As if the mere existence of a drive-thru adult store in Alabama weren't sufficiently attention-getting, along comes news that the porn emporium is pushing customers to trade in their guns for store credit in honor of Valentine's Day. Visitors to Pleasures in Huntsville, Ala., can turn in their firearms and get pornographic videos, magazines, and sex toys in return. Sherri Williams, the store's owner, says that the promotion is her "contribution to making love, not war, here in Alabama." She has pledged to hand over any illegal firearms to the police, but will sell the rest to raise money for charities benefiting victims of gun violence. (Watch a CBS report about the offer)

The reaction: This is a gun policy we can get behind, says Maressa Brown at The Stir. "Valentine's Day or not, we could all afford to trade in some of our violence for more lovin'!" But sadly, asking gun lovers to trade up to a vibrator won't work, says Robert Paul Reyes at NewsBlaze. "Southern men love guns, women, and God — in that order. No hillbilly worth his salt will trade his beloved phallic symbol for a much smaller phallic substitute that doesn't shoot bullets."