Moncton residents angry over firearms ad in newspaper

CTV Atlantic: Anger in N.B. over gun ads Some are angry a newspaper ran an ad for guns and ammunition in the same issue as a front-page story about the cost of the Moncton shooting.

Some Moncton residents are speaking out about an advertisement for firearms that ran in the Times and Transcript newspaper on Thursday.

On the front page of Thursday’s issue is an article about the policing costs from last year’s shooting that left three RCMP officers dead and two seriously injured in Moncton.

On the back page is an advertisement for guns and ammunition, and that’s not sitting well with some readers.

“It’s appalling, it’s disgusting, it’s disrespectful, it’s ironic,” says subscriber Mike Kakogiannakis.

“After three deaths of Mounties and you see a full ad in the Times and Transcript for firearms and ammunition? It’s disrespectful, I find, to the families.”

Daniel St. Louis, a photographer who covered the Moncton shootings extensively, was also shocked by the ad.

“It’s been bothering me every time I see the ad and then it’s ironic today that those two are together and that that’s allowed,” says St. Louis.

The regional general manager for Brunswick News, the parent company of the Times and Transcript, says the story about the policing costs during the shooting is of high interest to the community.

Jean-Claude D’Amours says a separate Brunswick News publication, distributed with the Times and Transcript, contained the advertisement for a firearms vendor and the decision for placement of the news story was made independent of the ad in question.

As for the store owner, he tells CTV News he runs a legitimate business, sells a legal product and has as much right to advertise as anybody else. He also says it is a lucrative business and he has sold thousands of guns.

But not everyone sees the business case for including the advertisement in the newspaper.

“I think it’s appalling. It’s disrespectful to the officers that died,” says one Moncton resident.

“It’s strange. I don’t know if they are trying to show both sides of the story and make a discussion of it,” says another.

For St. Louis, he says the issue is about respect.

“It’d be great if this went away and … we became more respectful to the fallen officers, more respectful to the community themselves, really.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell