A new exhibit in Chicago’s Daley Plaza is designed to convince citizens that guns are as easy to acquire as bicycles; what is typically a bike-sharing station has been stocked with 10 replica AR-15 rifles instead.
Created by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in conjunction with an agency called The Escape Pod, the exhibit is titled, the “Chicago Gun Share Program.” The Brady Center stated, “The program was developed in response to the lack of federal gun regulations and conflicting state laws that would help protect American citizens from unnecessary gun violence.” The exhibit accepts virtual donations and boasts the social media hashtag #GunShare, according to AdWeek.
The Brady Center’s goal: to increase background checks for all gun sales, ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and pass laws banning someone deemed a danger to themselves or others from gun ownership.
Celia Jones, CEO of The Escape Pod, said, “People have strong opinions on the subject of gun violence, but conversation, and ultimately action, tend to fall off after the immediacy of tragic events fades. Creating a physical installation brings the issue to the forefront in a way that online articles and other passive media cannot, and being able to use our creativity to raise funds for the Brady Center is the most important part.” She added, “There has been a tremendous amount of support for the piece, even globally, and also voices on the other side of the debate weighing in.”
The Chicago effort is not the first to attempt to keep the subject of gun control on the front-burner; in May, a creative director named Susan Levine constructed an installation in Dallas titled “Face2Face,” in which images of 24 victims of gun violence were projected in the area around the NRA convention.