With the nation still reeling from a week of devastating episodes of gun violence, organizers of the upcoming CrossFit Games have taken to social media to advertise a gun giveaway for the winners of the athletic competition.
In announcing the partnership between the CrossFit games and Glock Inc., director Dave Castro said “the top male athlete, the top female athlete, and every member of the winning team will receive a Glock pistol.”
The video promotes the Glock as a “safe,” “dependable” weapon, but the ad also alludes to the weapon as being “in our heritage and in our name.”
It’s unclear how some winners of the CrossFit Games would be able to claim the Glock gun prize. For example, two of the top contenders are from Australia, which has strict gun control laws, according to the fitness website FloElite.
FacebookEdit descriptionwww.facebook.comThe move has enraged many CrossFit enthusiasts, especially Allysa Royse, the owner of Rocket CrossFit in Seattle, Washington.
“It’s just dumb marketing. It has nothing whatsoever to do with fitness,” Royse told ThinkProgress.
Despite the name, the hyper-masculine and corporate CrossFit Games are not synonymous with the CrossFit fitness and training methodology that has swept the nation in recent years. Royse, who decorates her gym with rainbows and Black Lives Matter signs, already has a hard enough time separating the two to potential gym members. This announcement isn’t going to help.
“It’s hard on affiliate owners,” she said. “As it is I spend a lot of time trying to figure out a way to create a space where everyone feels comfortable. CrossFit is truly something that anyone can do, and at Rocket we are all about diversity and safety and empowerment. This will be bad for my business.”
Other CrossFit enthusiasts have already taken to the CrossFit Games’ social media sites to express their discomfort with the Glock Inc. promotion. One Facebook user called on the organization to “take a minute to analyze our current gun situation in America and around the world before you sign these contracts.” Another person who claimed to run a CrossFit Kids program said that he was uncomfortable that the kids he teaches could explore the webpage and be “exposed to a glorified pistol ad.”
Glock pistols are the often-overlooked gun of choice for criminals and the mentally disturbed, according to The Daily Beast. The Glock 19, a 9-millimeter pistol, can hold up to 33 bullets. That gun was used by Jared Loughner, a 22-year-old man who killed six people and seriously injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in 2011. It was also used by Seung-Hui Cho, a Virginia Tech student who killed 32 people during a rampage.
The partnership between CrossFit Games and Glock Inc. isn’t a total surprise, however: The military is increasingly using CrossFit to train its soldiers and many of the founders of the CrossFit organization have military roots. Castro is himself a military veteran who avidly posts Instagram photos of himself carrying guns or his gun collection.
Other CrossFit Games athletes, like Matthew Fras, have also posted photos of themselves holding guns. Castro previously praised the “custom line” of AR-15 for the CrossFit Games and he has been featured on the Crossfit.com website in a series of posts on handgun tips and combative practical shooting.
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Royse is horrified by the timing of this announcement, and hopes that outrage from fans, affiliates, and hopefully athletes and sponsors, will force the CrossFit Games to re-think this partnership.
Notably, ESPN will be airing the event next week. On Wednesday night, the ESPY’s — ESPN’s annual award show — featured multiple athletes speaking out against gun violence and advocating for stricter gun control laws.
“If we want to have guns in America, the key has to be responsible gun ownership,” Royse said. “Handing them out like carnival prizes is beyond disgusting.”