Sample addressed potential concerns by Black Lives Matter protesters by telling NCEN, “They’re being targeted due to their appearance”.
A gun rights activist who has caused controversy by putting up a large sign reading “Black Rifles Matter” has said race campaigners should be flattered.
The riff on the Black Lives Matter movement – which protests police brutality, and especially police shootings, against black people – was deliberate, he told NENC. The sign reads “black rifles matter”.
Linc Sample says he was just attempting to grab attention with his controversial sign.
“That’s really a trigger for me – the assault weapons ban”, Sample told NECN.
Linc Sample, the creator of the sign, said it’s meant to focus on gun rights, and has nothing to do with race.
Samples argues the sign is about standing up for the Second Amendment.
Rick Prose, executive director of the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, shared with the Bangor Daily News a handwritten anonymous letter from a family who has vacationed in the town for years but said they cut their recent trip short on account of the sign. “It’s insensitive and it’s certainly not welcoming”. “I think it’s racist”.
Boothbay Harbor, a tiny town of 2,165, is a popular summer destination with vacationers, who visit its yacht-filled waterfront.
Another tourist, Jeremy Plasse believes that the town is doing the right thing by leaving the sign up. But city officials said they have received complaints about the sign from visitors and residents alike since it was erected. Sample said he’s created a new pro-gun display, and he’s eager to put that one up in the old sign’s place.
Still, the sign has also received some support. he posted a photo showing the “Black Rifles Matter” sign on his lawn. “There isn’t much the town can do about it”, said Woodin.
