St. Peters Gun Store Compares Gun Owners To Jews In Nazi Germany

ST. PETERS, MO — A local gun store is causing an uproar by comparing Republicans and gun owners to Jews living in Nazi Germany. Tactical S--t, located in St. Peters, is selling a "pieces of flair morale patch" modeled on the yellow Stars of David Jewish citizens were forced to wear in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe. One patch says "Gun Owner" and another reads "Republican."

"We do not invoke this historical symbol lightly," the item description reads. "The similarities of the current attitude of the legislative environment and the systematic persecution that this star represents are uncanny. There's no difference. The 'Pieces of Flair' patch is a strong reminder of how quickly an unarmed society can be toppled by a dictatorship. How have we reached this point? How has the persecution [sic] of a single group of people become so socially acceptable? Well, to us, its not. Its time to remind these people of history. Line in the sand: drawn. This patch will fray nicely at the edges with usage (intentionally)."

The patch is currently sold out.

The store routinely shares right-wing news stories on its Facebook page, as well as offensive memes, including one seeming to praise human trafficking and another labeling most of the world a s---hole, probably inspired by the president's recent comment during a bipartisan immigration meeting. Tactical S--t's owner, TJ Kirgin, told Guns.com in a 2017 interview that his customers appreciate his store's "sense of humor."

“The guys that we cater to, and some women, they enjoy dirty jokes. They cuss when they talk. You talk to a beat cop, you talk to a SWAT guy, you talk to a Navy SEAL, these guys they have a sense of humor,” Kirgin said. “They have a sense of humor that’s not your average guy’s.”

Kirgin said in the same interview that he is a former St. Louis police officer.

Not everyone finds the patch humorous, however. The story has been picked up by several Israeli media outlets, including the Times of Israel and Jerusalem Online, where the response has been overwhelmingly negative.

Karen Aroesty, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League for Missouri, eastern Kansas and southern Illinois, called the store's use of the patch an "outrageous provocation" by folks looking to market themselves on the backs of Holocaust victims. "Any effort to draw moral equivalency between the millions of folks who died at the hands of the Nazis and folks seeking to protect their second amendment rights is obnoxious and should be shouted down whenever possible," she told Patch.

St. Louis was the site of a series of hate crimes against Jewish Americans last year when vandals overturned headstones in a Jewish cemetery amid a wave of bomb threats to Jewish community centers across the country. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center have reported an uptick in hate crimes since the 2016 election.

The gun store has not responded to Patch's request for comment. But as of Monday night the patch has been removed from its website. In an email to the Riverfront Times, Kirgin said he decided to stop selling the patch because it is no longer relevant thanks to President Trump.

“We will not make a habit out of removing products simply because they offend someone," he said," however we are making an exception in this situation due to the religious implications and because the patch is in fact no longer relevant under the Trump Administration."

Photo: A yellow badge worn by a Jewish victim of the Holocaust. (Oli Scarff/News/Getty Images)