Cross-posted at Humid City:

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has joined forces with Spike Lee for one of those futile “end the violence” PR campaigns. An asshole with a gun and a grudge doesn’t care about what’s said in a public service announcement, after all.

Local jewelry legend Mignon Faget is always game to help a good cause so her firm designed a pin to benefit the Mayor’s new pet project, NOLA For Life. Who among us is against life? The pin, however, appears to have been designed by NRA Grand Vizier Wayne LaPierre:

Here’s the blurb that describes the pistol pin:

New Orleans artist and jewelry designer Mignon Faget has designed a
provocative collection to benefit the Fund and raise awareness to stop
gun violence in the City. The collection includes a gun pin designed to
be worn on a black ribbon in the tradition of mourning jewelry and a
graphic gun motif scarf that proclaims “Stop the Shooting.” The
collection is available in Mignon Faget stores and online at www.mignonfaget.com.

“My collection is bold, powerful and to the point. It
acknowledges New Orleans’ epidemic while supporting and encouraging the
widespread efforts to curb the violence,” Faget said.

Faget frequently designs jewelry to highlight a particular cause; her recent pin commemorating the demise of the daily Times-Picayune was a big seller, and in 2010 she created an entire line of jewelry inspired by the Gulf oil disaster, which benefited the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

The “Stop the Shooting” pewter pin, which retails for $25, is designed to be “provocative and encourage conversations,” Faget says.

I’m not sure if this hits the, uh, target but it *has* stirred up conversation and I’m sure all the gun nuts will want one. As far as I’m concerned, the “stop the shooting” pin is a bizarre and inappropriate way to support an effort to end violence as if a public relations campaign had any hope of doing so.

My advice to Mignon is to holster the pistol pin and to stop shooting herself in the foot. The worst thing about this whole episode is that it’s given me a raging earworm:

Hmm, I bet Steven Tyler would like one of those gunny, ribbony things to put on his mike stand…