A Las Vegas billboard was transformed into a political protest after guerrilla artists transformed it to say ‘Shoot a school kid only $29’. The billboard originally said: ‘Shoot a .50 caliber only $29’ (£21) but the art collective, called Indecline, changed it in response to the Florida high school shooting which left 14 students and 3 teachers dead.
The advertisement was for a nearby gun range, Battlefield Vegas, which offers customers the opportunity to experience a real-life version of their favorite violent video games for as little as $159 (£115.16).
They advertise themselves as the ‘number one new interactive entertainment attraction to hit Las Vegas’. The billboard was taken down within hours and a police investigation was launched after the vandalism was reported and the group have said they are cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation.
Employees at Battlefield Las Vegas referred questions to managers who did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages.
Indecline said that billboard action was to spur debate about ‘inadequate gun laws that are currently placing value on assault weapons over that of human life.’
They were formed in 2001 by a group of high school graduates who enjoyed defacing billboards. Since being set up, they have 25 permanent members of staff and artists who come and contribute to work. The group has previously taken credit for erecting naked statues of Donald Trump in various US cities during his election campaign and have painted over the names of celebrities on the Walk of Fame, replacing them with the names of black men and women who have been shot by police. The gun range is just kilometres away from where a gunman opened fire on a music festival in October 2017.
Stephen Paddock killed 58 people from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel before committing suicide. He had stockpiled 24 guns, including 14 AR-15 style rifles. It was the worst mass shooting in modern American history.