We guess when you have drifted as far away as Agricenter International has from its founding vision, it’s takes little effort to justify the almost monthly gun shows taking place there.
But the decision by Agricenter to defend the gun shows because they are revenue-producing was instructive. More than anything, it summoned up the old punch line: “Now we know what you are. We’re just haggling over the price.” With its decisions to be a purveyor for these weapons, Agricenter International’s willingness to do anything for money becomes blindingly clear.
Hosting the gun shows at any time brings into question the decision-making of the board, but charging ahead with one in the wake of the Newtown murders shows a lack of sensitivity that is startling in its scope, made only worse by the weak justifications about contracts and legalities.
Mission Crept
The series of gun shows at Agricenter have long been a questionable use of the facility, but it finally reached the tipping point following the murders of 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the wake of that horror, highly respected Memphians William and Margaret Craddock suggested cancellation of a gun show in a December 17 email to Agricenter president John Charles Wilson “in response to the recent shootings and the strong outcry of concern for accessibility and use of weaponry.”
Mr. Craddock wrote: “I cannot see how a gun show can be aligned with the spirit intended by your mission statement.” By the way, the mission statement states that “Agricenter International is a self-sustaining, not-for-profit organization that provides economic development and improved quality of life by facilitating agricultural research, educational programs, environmental conservation, natural area preservation and recreational opportunities. “
Mr. Wilson said Agricenter had little choice but to honor the contract and that the gun shows help pay the bills at his facility. “Agricenter is a company,” he said. “We have to be self-sustaining.”
The Wrong Time and Place
Yes, Agricenter International had a contract for the gun show, but surely it has a cancellation clause and even if it calling off the gun show resulted in a penalty, it was worth it to show that people – whether they are gun owners or not – understand that there are times for mourning. (There were people who said they were willing to pay any penalty.)
But the bigger question is whether these gun shows are an appropriate function for an organization dedicated to an expanded understanding of the importance of our agricultural assets. Our region remains significantly above the average gun murder rate for major metros in the U.S. (see earlier post), and it only seems logical that a proliferation of guns naturally contributes to a proliferation of gun crimes.
What’s amazing to many of us that when there are farm shows at Agricenter International , the farm implements have more safety standards and regulations than the weapons sold at its gun shows. Meanwhile, children between the ages of 5 and 14 are 13 times more likely to be murdered with a gun as children in other industrialized nations and the rate in Memphis is even higher.
Gunning for Money
As for the defense that Agricenter International is a “company,” if it is, it should move across Germantown Parkway and start paying taxes. It’s worth remembering that Agricenter International is a nonprofit organization, it sits on 1,000 acres of public land, it exists because of more than $20 million in public funding, and it is housed in a building built and repaired by the public. It pays no taxes, and if it has a string of 12 years without asking for money from county government, it is only because Shelby County cut off the spigot.
Even before county government ceased yearly funding, questions were being raised about Agricenter’s choices in events that had not the barest connection to agriculture or conservation. Because of its nonprofit status and because it exists as a result of taxpayers, its decisions on what events to hold should be based on more than if it makes money for Agricenter. More to the point, it should be whether it contributes to a positive quality of life in this community.
We’re a long way from those heady days when Agricenter International was opened with visions of research labs producing internationally important work, permanent displays of technologically advanced equipment for agriculture, and cutting edge seminars and symposiums about trends and breakthroughs. To make it come to fruition, government put up significant funding on the bet that our region’s strong agricultural heritage could be a platform for launching an equally strong agricultural future.
A Step Back
In the end, it was not to be, and Agricenter International became within a few years a location for subsidized offices and it began a run of gun shows, home shows, flea markets, and boat shows. In other words, the vision of creating a magnet and hub of new events gave way to Agricenter merely becoming a public facility that was often luring existing events from other public facilities or local hotels.
We can appreciate the challenge of funding Agricenter International’s $3.5 million yearly budget, but in its IRS reports, it says its purpose is “to promote educational/research endeavors for the advancement of agriculture.” That’s a mission that all of us can stand for, but events like gun shows only devastate its brand, confuse the public, and erode support.
We know that Agricenter International is not run by an uncaring group of people, and its chairman is highly respected Bill Gillon. It seems time for Agricenter International – and for Shelby County Government and its mayor – to step back, to evaluate where the organization is and where it can go, and reboot Agricenter to respond to the needs and aspirations of this community.
tractor parts and cucumbers ain’t sexy.
AR-15′s are sexy. and help pay the rent. go plan something…
Come on people! Stop all the emotional belly aching over the nonsense how guns kill people, people kill people! No statistics can show me how armed citizens are more dangerous than unarmed; it’s the other way around. Every tyrant has disarmed the citizens. Read the Federalist Papers. The founders gave us the 2nd Amendment not for hunting, but for protection from a tyrannical government.
The Sandy Hook kids died because a population of P.C. indoctrinated liberals denied the school any power to defend itself and its wards. It was just the kind of “gun-free” zone that the liberals whine for, and in that regard it was like EVERY other dramatic multiple killing of unrelated people. “Gun Free” only means that the good guys are defenseless. It has no effect on the crazies and the hateful. And, even if the “gun-free” process succeeds in disarming the bad guys, that leaves them with the ability to kill with lesser weapons and more insidious plans. Like the 9-11 terrorists, the airport security did exactly as intended – it disarmed the victims. Given that success, the bad guys only needed box cutters. In China, where civilians can’t have guns, the mass attacks on school kids use knives and other weapons – why not, there is no gun to stop them.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Maintaining our Constitutional rights is not being insensitive. Assigning blame of this demonic attack to guns does not add up.
Assigning the name “assault weapons” demonizes the ordinary semi-automatic defensive weapons. All this is a smoke screen to eventually try to confiscate all guns from law abiding citizens.
Alcohol kills more people in this nation than anything. With the logic we hear today we should call drinks “assault beer”.
Let’s go on and call automobiles “assault vehicles” especially those gas guzzling high speed sports cars.
Let me get this strait……the mere presence of guns insight people to kill each other? Ok…..if that were true wouldn’t a gun show, where there are THOUSANDS of guns and HUNDREDS of people from all walks of life be THE deadliest place on earth?! Instead, it’s one of the safest places on earth and for sure the safest place in Memphis Tennessee! When’s the last time someone went into the gun show at the Agricenter to rob it? Hmmmm? Can’t remember? How about NEVER? NO gang banger is THAT stupid. The place is wall to wall with guns and people who aren’t AFRAID to use them. Consequently, they never have to. Hmmmmmm Maybe there’s a lesson here?
The bottom line is criminals prey upon the weak, defenseless and cowardly. Sandy Hook and Aurora are perfect examples of that fact. Guns don’t commit crime. CRIMINALS do! How about we try banning CRIMINALS for a change? Yeah I know, that’s just crazy huh? Oh and last year feet and hands killed more people in the US than “assault” rifles. Maybe we should ban hands and feet instead?
It’s NOT the gun sales that hurt the image of Memphis, it’s the ILLEGALLY ARMED thugs who want to harm REGISTERED citizens. These thugs are already using the entitlements we are forced to pay…. then they want what WE have worked for. SHAME on the author of this article and anyone who thinks like this. GUNS don’t kill, People do!! Start being responsible for your children, your homes, your lives…. go through the procedures to be armed to protect yourself and your family!
the moral of the story is…if you don’t want to be the victim of a crime this weekend, go to the gun show at the Agricenter,it will be the safest place to be. I guess they shouldn’t have any car shows either? Since cars kill more people than guns?
I would think that protecting our freedoms would enhance the image of the Agricenter, not diminish it in any way.
Trying to have a discussion about gun control with the extremist/NRA crowd is akin to discussing a planned diet with someone who does not realize they have a weight issue.
There is no Second Amendment right to own and carry any type of firearm any place at any time. A basic right, yes. Government also has the right and duty to regulate that, so says Justice A. Scalia no less.
Dear SCM,
Congratulations! You really drew out the local RW nut cases with every falacious statement possible on this topic.
The gun obsessives turn to talking points that distort the meaning of the Second Amendment and founding documents of this country, they trivialize the presence of assault weapons whose only purpose is to kill people, they justify massive magazines for reasons that would make an idiot blush, and they fail to read the research that shows clearly that more guns equal more gun murders. It’s pretty simple. It’s even logical, but logic seems to be fleeting when guns becomes more important than lives.
We’ve always figured that people that horde guns are overcompensating for a small appendage, but here’s the thing: at one point do you have enough guns? Do you really need an assault weapon for your alleged protection and to feel safe? Do you really need a dozen guns and 500 rounds of ammunition?
I’m as scared of people who are so enamored of their guns that they want to take them everywhere as gangs. I’m unlikely to come in contact with gangs but some of these other people are sitting in a park next to me. I don’t feel safer because they are there. I feel unsafe and more at risk.
And enough with all the tyrannical government crap. When’s the last time you saw a tyrant run for office, ask Congress for approval of gun laws, etc. We know your paranoia is running high, but if you are so put out with this country, Mexico is a place where all your guns would feel right at home.
Smart City Memphis concerned about hurting the “image” of The agricenter is like gangster rappers worrying about country music artist hurting the image of the CMA. Gun Shows are as natural to the Agricenter as the new “green” playgrounds and electric meters to plug in your your hyper expensive toy automobiles. Oh wait, nutty cosmopolitan green freaks are the ones out of place in this city. Take your liberal coastal mindsets and go impose on somebody else. You’re not welcome here… I hear Chicago is more tolerant of consequential cretins like you. If you think this is your city…be prepared for the fight of your lives!
…and I bet Brad wonders why everyone younger than 35 with a college degree is leaving this city, why the region is economically stagnant, why this city and the surrounding region has one fo the nation’s highest crime rates, why poverty is so pervasive, etc…
He is can see the answer every time he looks in a mirror.
Truth is a hard thing. Reality sucks. So now kids its time to grow up. Evil and violent people have been and will always be among us. (see the best seller “The Bible”) They STEAL guns, or knives or hammers or pipes or bricks and commit violent acts upon law abiding citizens. So what we are really debating is whether or not to make it more difficult for these citizens to obtain a gun to defend themselves and their family, friends, neighborhood, town, state etc. OK… If you don’t get this concept by now, you’re no longer being “intellectual” but really a spoiled child in denial of real world facts with a false sense of safety brought on by a lack of experience in human interaction over an extended period of time on this planet. So please, grow up, get a job, get off your computer, be responsible, pay your bills, read the constitution, buy a gun and learn the fun of responsible gun ownership, and then my children you will be on your way to experiencing the joys of adulthood in the real world of this great experiment in Freedom that we call AMERICA.
Guns don’t kill people, bad people kill people. Please don’t seek to take away the rights of good people becauuse of things bad people do…find a way to stop the bad folks without punishing the good.
I firmly believe that the way to stop the bad guys from showing up in our schools to shoot innocents is for them to be staring down the barrel of a gun when they show up. The other thing to remember is that people with disturbed minds are not rational…so again please don’t take away my right because of the actions of a nut case.
I support the right to buy and bear arms of all kinds. So be careful shaming the Agri Center…you do not speak for all of us.
This is our blog, so we’re not trying to speak for everyone. We just think we’re speaking for the logical ones.
SCM ,
You resort to talking about appendages. Wow you are pathetic.
Sorry: DIdn’t mean to hit so close to home.