If you’ve driven on some of Northern California’s major freeways recently, you may have noticed there are new billboards advertising guns.
The 14-by-48-foot billboard from Outfront Media, which can be seen in multiple locations, including Interstate 80 near Vallejo, Interstate 880 in Oakland and in Sacramento, depicts a black handgun with a crimson trigger safety against a white backdrop. To the left of the pistol, the ad reads, “Canik comes to California.” Canik is a Turkish firearms manufacturer.
The gun, according to Canik, was designed to comply with California’s gun laws, which are among the strictest in the nation.
“The introduction of the Canik Mete MC9 to California is the first step of bringing superior firearms to the Golden state,” reads a description of the pistol on Canik’s website.
The ad is an unusual sight in cities such as Oakland, which is known for having some of the highest gun violence rates in California and the nation, and it’s possible the billboard there was violating a city law. (The city told SF Gate that the billboard has been removed.)
So far this year, Oakland homicides are up 26% and negligent discharges of a firearm are up 14% compared with the same time last year, according to data from the Oakland Police Department.
Social media users have spotted the same advertisement in Los Angeles, Culver City, and other California cities.
The Mete MC9 was added earlier this year to the California Department of Justice’s handgun roster, which specifies which firearm models can be sold and manufactured in the state.
But while the handgun is technically legal under state law, the advertisement has caught many Californians by surprise and generated debate.
Reactions to the billboard on Reddit and Nextdoor were mixed, with most residents expressing shock and outrage.
One Reddit user said the ad was “tasteless and disturbing.”
“I almost crashed my car in surprise seeing this today on the 880,” one person commented. Another who felt similarly wrote, “I’m pretty jaded about this country but those billboards surprised even me.”
Another comment reads, “I know many people own guns here but somehow I feel that is different from being a place with a gun culture.”
Some, however, questioned why the ad was so bothersome.
An Oakland Nextdoor user wrote, “Hundreds of kids running around here with illegal guns robbing grannies, yet you are scared of a paper billboard with a picture of a gun on it,” accompanied by multiple laughing emojis.
Another person on Nextdoor commented, “What is so upsetting about this? It’s an advertisement for people who may be interested in LEGALLY picking one up. Majority of criminals in Oakland don’t buy their guns from gun stores so this won’t interest them in the slightest.”
Many guns used in homicides, assaults, robberies, and other crimes are purchased legally from federally licensed dealers but are later stolen or diverted through other means into the hands of people who use them for criminal activity. But ghost guns — those manufactured without serial numbers or whose serial numbers have been removed — are making up an increasing number of crime guns in Oakland and other cities.
Outfront Media, the company that operates the billboard, and Century Arms Inc., which imports and distributes Canik firearms, did not respond to The Oaklandside’s requests for an interview.
