Dear Editor,

I was deeply disturbed to see an ad for “International Student Night” at Urbana’s High Caliber shooting range in a recent print edition of the Daily Illini. 

Just as many venerable media outlets have taken stands against advertising tobacco and alcohol products, I would expect a news outlet whose primary audience is the student and campus community, to reject advertisement revenue from an industry with the blood of our nation’s children on its hands.

Over 33,000 Americans are killed each year by guns. Chicago just witnessed the deadliest summer in over 20 years thanks to gun violence.

Perhaps High Caliber is counting on new international students who weren’t around in June of 2016 to read about the man who unintentionally shot and killed himself at the High Caliber range in Urbana, but most international students I’ve spoken with are extremely troubled by the gun violence epidemic in this country.

They come from countries like the U.K., France and Canada that have recently issued travel warnings urging their citizens to use caution when visiting the United States because of our gun violence problem.

They come from countries like South Korea, Japan and Australia where gun violence is practically non-existent.

As a recent study published in the American Journal of Medicine found, Americans aged 15-24 are over 25 times more likely to be killed by a gun than their peers in other high-income countries.

The Daily Illini should take a principled stand on this issue and decline advertising from High Caliber and other businesses that promote gun violence in our community.

Written by Elly Hanauer, Champaign