Offensive? Us?

American Handgunner, July-August, 2008 by Lin Wilwol

I find the article by John Connor (Guncrank Diaries, May/June 2008) and pictures/illustrations depicting sexy women in American Handgunner inappropriate and offensive. With a growing female and youth following in the shooting sports, shooting magazines are viewed by people of all ages and both genders. However, many ads and articles continue to exploit women. They sell sex and sexy, not guns and the sports of shooting and hunting. They are demeaning and don't take women shooters seriously, not to mention inappropriate for the young ones. I have four daughters, two stepdaughters, and two granddaughters, so as you can see we are a predominantly female hunting family. I want to be able to display our magazines comfortably at home and our local club without having to edit them first. Please keep our magazines clean, and take into consideration your entire viewing audience before you display ads that use sexy women, or articles that are meant for adult men. This is not an exclusive men's club.

Lin Wilwol

Educator, Mom and

Grandma, 4-H leader, etc.

Via e-mail

Thanks for your thoughtful note, Ms. Wilwol. Just so you know right off the bat, Handgunner's readers are 98.2 percent adult male, give or take a point. Additionally, I wonder if you actually read Connor's article? His wife talks about the value of her husband, her willingness to support him when he needs it, and his reliability with his family. Her cartoon is no more "sexy" than any of the cartoons on TV showing female "super-heros" in skintight outfits dominating the channels young people watch. And tune into any prime time TV show aimed at young people and you'll see much, much more. Remember Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Millions of young people watched that with no seeming ill effects. I'd be interested to hear what the young people you are "protecting" would have to say both about the cartoon you mention and the content of the article. I'll wager they're not offended at all.

I have a market demographic to appeal to here. The 98.2 percent of my male readers who buy the guns and accessories they see in Handgunner overwhelmingly enjoy the content (and the pictures) and seem not offended in the least. I simply won't dilute the flavor and spirit of the magazine--and the cartoons are a very tiny part--just to appease a fractional part of potential readership. One chooses to be offended by something and frankly, there's nothing I can do to change your mind about what you have decided of[ends you. If you choose to be a victim, well ... that's up to you.

I trust you'll understand my obligation to keep this magazine as successful as possible. I have a responsibility to the employees of our small company to keep us profitable. A simple solution may be to simply turn a page if you see something that seems to offend your sensibilities. I'd truly be interested to hear from the young people you are "protecting" and invite any letters the), may like to write. Editor