Bill Maher has certainly been no stranger to controversial opinions during his career — much less lately after some tweets related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict brought on a slew of negative attention. But one group of conservatives who have always had an antagonistic relationship with Bill as a pundit is gaining exposure from an ‘open carry’ gun rights book for children he promoted on his show, first reported Fox News .
Fox reported that sales increased dramatically after the book My Parents Open Carry appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher on Aug. 1. Public reaction to the book was mixed over Twitter, making it unclear how many were buying the book for facetious reasons.
An extract from the children’s book “My Parents Open Carry” @ephemeragrrl pic.twitter.com/0nVbuk0xEO
— Forårsnisse ?? ?? (@Nissemus) August 2, 2014
Several news outlets also jumped on the story after Bill first brought up the book, including Raw Story and Addicting Info . The traction it is gaining from outraged liberals seems to be bumping up its novelty credit, but the authors are definitely serious. Before Maher spread word about the gun-loving picture book, the authors appeared on Armed American Radio to discuss its message.
It will help put people at ease… Most kids aren’t scared of a gun… that’s another good point this book tries to make.
Of course, not everyone is happy about the book. Last year a study in the medical journal Pediatrics reported that more than 10,000 children are harmed by gun violence every year , which averages to around 20 every day. Therefore, gun control advocates are going to take issue with a book that advocates the normalization of firearms in public. Parents Against Gun Violence released this statement:
While we strongly support providing children with information that will protect them from gun violence, this book crosses the line from information into the realm of indoctrination. We welcome material that makes children safer from gun violence, but this book is not it.
A low-quality trailer for the book is available on Youtube.