RICHMOND — One of Virginia’s top gun-rights lobbyists drew criticism from his own supporters Monday after he was duped into promoting guns for children as young as 3 and hawking toys such as a teddy bear with a concealed pistol on a television show.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, was among numerous public figures pranked by Sacha Baron Cohen on his new series “Who Is America?” The creator of Borat and Ali G, characters who conduct outrageous interviews with unsuspecting politicians, burned up social media on Sunday with footage of current and former members of Congress speaking enthusiastically of arming children.
[Bipartisanship in Virginia does not extend to gun legislation[1]]
But no one went further than Van Cleave, who appeared with Cohen — who was disguised as an Israeli security expert named Col. Erran Morad — in a Nickelodeon-style segment called “Kinderguardians.”
Holding a “Puppy Pistol” toy, which looks like a pistol inserted into a stuffed dog, Van Cleave explains how to load an ammunition clip: “To feed him, take his lunch box and push it into his tummy like this. Just remember to point Puppy Pistol’s mouth right at the middle of the bad man. If he has a big fat tummy, point at that.”
That’s one of several “Gunimals” toys that Van Cleave and the stone-faced Cohen tout for youngsters, along with “Gunny Rabbit” — “He’s ready to put the naughty man on a very long timeout,” Van Cleave says — and “Dino-gun,” which, Van Cleave warns, “eats and spits his candy really, really fast.”
Van Cleave holds a pink teddy bear called BFF — for
