October 12, 2004

Neighbor in the news

         Don Davis isn’t ashamed to declare his love for guns.  Now, everyone who passes by his new White River Township home can see how serious he is about society’s right to own a weapon.  The Indianapolis gun shop owner has put up a monument with the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution carved into the stone.  It sits on the freshly laid front lawn of his new white-brick home in the Highland Park subdivision, on Eagle Trace Drive near Olive Branch Road and State Road 135.  The jagged-edged slab of stone stands about 3 feet tall and stretches about 8 feet long, sitting on a mound of red woodchips on the lawn.  Along with the text of the Second Amendment and the dates it was proposed and ratified by Congress, Davis has added his own comment:  “It’s better to own a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not own it,” the stone reads, with Davis’ name inscribed below the quote.  A small spotlight illuminates the monument at night.

         On Monday, three days after the monument was put up, several cars slowed and stopped in front of Davis’ new home to take a look.  “I certainly agree with it but don’t see the need to display the message like that,” said nearby homeowner Ronald Olvfather, who was taking a walk in the J. Greg Allen-designed subdivision on Monday. “I just don’t see any reason, especially in any residential neighborhood.”  Davis couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

         Davis is known for his trademark slogan in TV commercials that is now part of his shop’s recorded telephone message: “I don’t want to make money, folks, I just love to sell guns.”  Now owning a gun shop in Indianapolis, Davis once operated a Greenwood location. He closed the store after a 1997 holdup in which a store employee, Steven Stapleton, was shot and killed.  After the closing, Davis donated some of the equipment from his shooting range inside the building to the Greenwood Police Department. The building has since been turned into a police shooting range.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

 
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