Billboard in Poplar Bluff changed after outcry

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Controversial wording on a North Westwood Boulevard billboard was taken down less than 48 hours after it went up.

Rhino's Gunwork owner Ryan Brooks said while the "guns, ammo & cool sh--!!!" advertisement was protected by free speech, he voluntarily took down that section of the sign after complaints from residents and by officials from Poplar Bluff city hall.

The billboard went up Wednesday morning and was changed by Thursday afternoon.

"We knew people wouldn't like it, but I didn't know it would be this bad," said Brooks, who still feels his business saw more positive gains than negative by the advertising stunt.

He's had customers requesting stickers with the words and phone calls from those who said no true Christian would like the sign.

Others in the city were less amused by a sign they said does not project the right image for a growing city.

"I'd hate to have that up when we're trying to hire new teachers," said Poplar Bluff schools Superintendent Chris Hon, with the district's central office and high-school campus nearby. "I think as we grow, we probably, all of us, need to be a little bit better than that."

City hall began receiving complaints about the sign about noon Wednesday, said city planner Dennis Avery, who contacted Brooks.

"Obviously, we were responding to the concerns of the citizens," Avery said. "I appreciate the fact that he voluntarily changed it, since we didn't have any legal right to force him."

Neither the city nor the Missouri Department of Transportation has an ordinance prohibiting the sign, Avery said. The city also spoke with the Missouri Municipal League, which confirmed the sign was protected under the First Amendment.