Guns in the supermarket

Save money, live better and always low prices are some of the many promises Wal-Mart makes to their costumers



Ten to forty guns placed perfectly behind a counter. A twelve year old asks "can I see that one, the Remington", she answers "of course" and hands the weapon to the child. Through the speakers they say "aisle three needs cleaning" and in a far distance over a hundred registers beep and the cashier says "thank you for chosing Wal-Mart"

Next to the counter you can find all sorts of hunting gear, and on the opposite side an endless display of car cleaning tools. People walk by the kid as if they just saw a promoter offering them new kind of cheese. Their carts are full with groceries. The lady behind the counter turns around to continue her cleaning job in one of the lower cabinets. Two foreigners stand in front of the scene shocked, one of them asks the other "have you ever seen something like this? I've never...I mean it's ourtrageous...how" and the other ne answers "no, I definitely haven't". The kid pushes the trigger a couple of times aiming the lady, then he leaves the gun on top of the counter and walks towards his father.



This display can only be seen in America, where guns can be bought as easily as an apple. Lewisburg, West Virginia is a town renowned for its most popular hobby, deer hunting. Wherever you go, the landscape is crowded with churches, houses, deers and gas stations which all seem to have something in common. A big neon coloured sign that says "Welcome hunters!" next to a drawing of a deer's face and a Budweiser logo in displayed on all of them and facing the highway.

Americans still wonder how the Columbine High School massacre happened. Guns are not only sold at supermarkets but also given away for free when you open certain bank accounts. Everyone in this country, specially people from underdeveloped states like West Virginia, can easily access all sort of weapons and there are many places where they can be found, not only supermarkets or banks. The curious thing is that not only adults can obtain them, but also kids and teenagers.

This twelve year old is just a victim of the bizzare American culture. Guns and weapons are being sold everywhere, hunters are more than welcome to come to West Virginia and kill their deers, they even have sponsors like Budweiser. These children grow up in an environment conditioned to kill, where they learn how to use guns and to murder animals, and not to fear these situations. States like this one are fomenting this killing culture and massifying the access of kids to lethal weapons.