Toys WERE Us:
Death of a Household Name
by Angel Shamaya
Director, KeepAndBearArms.com
Letter to the Chairman of the Board and all
Directors sent by certified mail with signature request:
Dear Mr. Chairman and Board of Director Members
of Toys-R-Us,
This letter is about the massive reduction of
your bottom line. I suggest you read and consider every word. By the
time you get this message, no less than 20,000 gun owners have already read
every word, seen every picture, and told ten of their friends to read it as pass
it on. (Isn't the internet wonderful?!)
This letter is about your having left
yourselves wide open to scrutiny, criticism, scorn, and rejection by a large and
growing number of people who have been Toys-R-Us customers for many, many
years--but will no longer be shopping in your stores, effective immediately.
I have been shopping at Toys-R-Us as my
EXCLUSIVE source for toys for what seems like a lifetime. Need something for a
young friend, nephew, cousin, neighbor's kid? Toys-R-Us. Need a few
board games for the upcoming party? Toys-R-Us. Et cetera. In
the past, that was our way. Get your toys from Toys-R-Us.
But I cannot and will not give you another dime
of my money, and neither will millions of other lawful, peaceable Americans.
It's sad. Really sad. Toys, after
all, were us.
You took a stand against gun
freedoms, and in
so doing, you have just spelled your demise. Not only that, you've left
your Achilles heel so wide open, only a miniature IQ could miss it. We
intend to make sure your weakness is revealed to millions of gun owners.
Allow me to give you a heads up on just how
foolish your move against the NRA was and is. I'll also tell you: we're
not dumping you like last week's garbage because you sought to use your
political and financial power against the NRA's proposed restaurant in
crime-ridden New York City. Not hardly. We're going to rip your
bottom line to shreds because WE LOVE FREEDOM. While the NRA is too busy (calling
for the enforcement of 20,000+ unconstitutional gun laws) to stop and
respond to your assault, somebody needs to warn you to prepare to explain to
your investors why your precious dividends just bottomed out and will most
assuredly continue to drop. This message is a mirror for your ignorance
and a heads up about your coming decimation.
I took my LAST walk through the Toys-R-Us
aisles today--with my digital camera. Technology is so amazing, isn't
it? A picture does in fact paint a thousand words, just like that fellow
said.
I was met with an entryway FILLED with
guns. Water-blasting H20 rifles, projectile-throwing pellet launchers,
noise-making blam-blammers--guns to train your customers' children TO POINT AND
SHOOT. Guns that pay your wages and dividends. Guns you market to
kids. That in itself was amusing, but I wasn't even interested in getting
my camera out for such nonsense. We could point to your Rosie-like
hypocrisy with that one, of course, but the real AMMO was further back in the
store, where I scored some really insightful pictures of your
Program-Children-to-Be-Violent "Games".
Interesting business you're in. I knew the
current trend to program children with violence was quite a lucrative endeavor,
but you're quite the leader in this business! You sell HUNDREDS of these
"games" to children who, according to one of your employees
"start as young as 4 years old." (Your employees were very helpful in
directing me to the most violent games you market to children; your managers
have trained them to be very polite and helpful. It's a shame you'll be laying
some of them off before closing some of your stores altogether.)
Attached are the images broadcast far and wide
through the internet and as handouts. We've also granted reprint
permission for this entire letter and all images to every gun owner in
America. Thought you might like to know that as you peruse the evidence.
- Duke
Nukem: Time to Kill (141K, for clarity's sake) From a child
development standpoint, this doesn't seem like the kind of thing responsible
parents would program into their child's impressionable mind. But you
market it so well, I suspect they just get reeled in. The burly
wrestler-type pointing a gun at me sure does rub up against your stand for a
peaceful society, guys. Time to kill? Whom, may I ask, do you
think children learn it is "time to kill"? The veil over the
"it's just a game" farce is very, very thin, and it is time to
pierce it intelligently.
- Sword
of Berserk - Guts' Rage (116K) Did you know that the Columbine
perpetrators played the violence-rich "games" from which you fund
your mortgages and vacations? The evil eye on the cover of this
interactive game of destruction is very clever. I'm sure it appeals to
the best in our young minds, wouldn't you say? "Guts'
Rage"? Is this your youth-supportive method of helping young,
impressionable children get in touch with their frustrations of
adolescence? You must be very proud. I wonder if the unarmed
woman who was gang-raped by 4 men TODAY in Colorado is feeling a "Guts'
Rage" about now--considering the fact that the perpetrators are all
still at large and that she was such easy prey.
- Mayhem
(83K) "Mayhem"? This must be your manner of assisting
our future leaders in creating balance and harmony in their lives as they go
about the process of maturing. You might consider suggesting to the
compliance-free manufacturers of this skills-developing "game"
that they change the name to "Destructive, Violent Mayhem" as I'm
sure such a move would sell even more of these socially-beneficial
child-development tools. I wonder if the women and men who were just
accosted in New York City felt MAYHEM as they were unable to defend
themselves against violent attacks because they had no means to defend
themselves in the criminal safety zone that was at one time a fine city.
Does it bother you that there were no criminally-misused guns to blame in
that incident? Wouldn't it have been just dreadful if those poor
marauders had met an armed citizen and been shot? Of course, if they had,
they'd have gone to prison for defending their own lives and honor with the
most efficient, effective, affordable self-defense tool available. And you
support these victims being easy prey. Congratulations.
- Legacy
of Kain - Soul Reaver (83K) Fascinating. I looked up the
word "reave" to make sure I knew its meaning. To "reave"
is to: deprive; seize and carry off forcibly; rob, plunder or pillage; break
or tear apart. (Dictionary.com
is quite useful for we who frequent the computer.) The "Legacy of
CAIN" was, biblically speaking, murder. You sell, to children of all
ages, a "game" the legacy of which is MURDER and the mere title of
which refers to the plundering and forcible taking of souls.
Interesting. Especially so considering the fact that women who get
raped and families who lose someone to murder feel just that: SOUL REAVED.
Nevermind the fact that the disarmament laws were signed by bodyguarded
politicians who are wholly immune to the laws their police forces enforce.
That is immaterial, right?
A quick look at the Nintendo
"game"-player you market to young children revealed the $99 price
tag, and I wondered how many of these items you've sold to our future
leaders. That would be fascinating to know, and we will find that piece of
information, most certainly. (You must know you have American gun owners
in your midst.)
I captured many more pictures which we will
cover in future reports to our growing membership--to
keep the topic of your demise alive and well.
One of our more active and studious members
published a letter (widely read across America over the weekend) detailing the
number of emergency-room visits each year, broken down by the method of
injury. It is most interesting to note how many of these emergency room
visits to which you cater. Allow me to share his finding with you:
Most Common Reasons for
Emergency Room Visits
1. Baseball/softball 404,000
2. Dog bites 334,000
3. Playground 267, 000
4. ATV*s, mopeds 125, 000
5. Volleyball 98, 000
6. In-line skating 76, 000
7. Horseback riding 71, 000
8. Baby walkers 28, 000
9. Skateboards 25, 000
(Note: There is no mention of firearm related activities)
[Source: U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission]
Not only do you sell items from all but three
of the above categories, firearms aren't even on the list.
I'm almost done.
It appears, from the perspective of an average
citizen going about living in America, that you have: 1) not considered
just how open to attack Toys-R-Us is, and 2) you have bought into a
political agenda that doesn't even make sense. Allow me to elaborate on
the second point, and you can finish reading this note so many gun owners have
already read.
1) It doesn't make sense to
support the disarming of the GOOD GUYS when the BAD GUYS can readily get guns
even the GOOD GUYS cannot buy--in every major city in America, no exceptions.
In other words, it doesn't make sense to make the BAD GUYS have an
easier time at REAVING.
2) It doesn't make sense that
you're now taking a public stand against your very own, long-time-loyal
customers and thus sending them off to get their "toys" elsewhere.
3) It doesn't make sense that a
Violence Profiteer is squeaking and squawking about stopping violence--when
you TRAIN violence into the minds of the people most susceptible to mental
programming--America's youth. (Showing your hypocrisy on this one
reveals exceptionally poor judgment.)
4) It doesn't make sense that
you have sided with anti-gun politicians who have bodyguards. (Are you so
hypocritical that you cannot see irrefutable hypocrisy?)
5) It doesn't make sense that
you support women being disarmed and thus unable to defend their own children
from juvenile criminal gangs whose minds you feed with messages such as
"Mayhem", "Soul Reaver", and "Guts' Rage".
You're working against our fair citizens from two debilitating angles,
doubling the damage done. To put that more simply, it doesn't make sense
that you make women rapeable, beatable, killable....reave-able.
6) It doesn't make sense that
you rebuke and defy the single largest gun safety organization on the planet
to promote gun safety.
7) It doesn't make sense to
blame guns for their criminal misuse just like it doesn't make sense to blame
cars for the tens of thousands of people killed in car accidents each
year. (MANY more people die in cars each year than die by gunshot.)
Your decision-making process has run
amuck. It just doesn't make sense.
There is a way out of the tremendous financial
shortcomings Toys-R-Us will now begin to experience. Just do what makes
sense. Briefly, for your consideration, are a few suggestions, and then
you can get on to your busy day:
1) It makes sense to champion
the lawful, peaceable citizens who are victimized by the criminal misuse of
guns. You can do this first by supporting the individual right to self-defense
by the most affordable, effective, and efficient method available: the
handgun. Good people DESERVE access to self-defense against knife and
gun-wielding thugs.
2) It makes sense to challenge
the political hogwash being fed to you through a dreadfully
biased media by simply doing your own quick research. I say QUICK
because you can find out in less than 5 minutes just how deceptive the media
and anti-self-defense politicians ARE. I urge you to do so unless you
simply enjoy being SUCKERED.
3) It makes sense to focus your
ire on CRIMINALS rather than on lawful, peaceable citizens who simply choose
to be UNvictimizable, self-empowered, self-determinant human beings.
4) It makes sense to stop your
anti-self-defense train immediately. You can do this by retracting your
visibly-illegal tactics against the NRA's planned introduction into the New
York City marketplace. You can do this by telling the
"leaders" in your city and state and nation that their restrictive
gun laws aren't working--as evidenced by higher rates of violent crimes amidst
highly-restrictive gun laws in, as simple examples: NYC, DC, LA, and
Chicago. (Someone on your Board surely must have the sense to put two
and two together!)
5) It makes sense to look at the
larger picture of "gun control" and to uncover the obvious (to all
who are rigid in their inquiry): gun control is about people control.
Should you choose to revert to being sensible
about the realities of the gun situation--about which you clearly know
little--feel free to give me a jingle. I'd be happy to assist you in your
process of discovery.
Until then, Toys-Were-Us.
Most Sincerely,
Angel Shamaya
Executive Director
KeepAndBearArms.com
Email
Toys-Were-Us
Angel Shamaya is the Executive Director of
KeepAndBearArms.com, an internet grassroots organization dedicated to stopping
the assault on American Liberty being perpetrated by political tyrants,
self-proclaimed television gurus, misguided mothers, history-ignorant sheeple,
and the general lack of understanding of the fundamental right to Keep And Bear
Arms. Reprint permission granted provided attribution is given including the
following link: http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com.
Copyright 2000. All ownership rights reserved, but spread this one far and
wide through all channels; you don't even need to ask. To become a member
of KeepAndBearArms.com, click here. We require
assistance to press on.
