Cop says he's been the target of backlash over his new pro-gun T-shirt design

A law enforcement officer who doubles as a T-shirt designer says he's faced some pretty harsh criticisms over his latest provocative design.

Warrior 12 conceives and creates pro-law enforcement and American patriotism apparel.

What's the shirt all about?

The officer's March 14 Facebook post, which promoted the new design, received more than 65,000 Facebook reactions and 45,000 shares at the time of this writing.

The Facebook post features the T-shirt's design, which is a simple black short-sleeved tee with a red, white, and grey color scheme.

White and red text on the shirt reads, "I'll control my guns, you control your kids."

A graphic image of an AR-style rifle is positioned next to the text.

A description of the item can be seen on the company's webpage, which states:

Gun control is a touchy subject in today’s day and age. The issue isn’t guns, it’s people. If parent’s [sic] could just learn to control their kids and take responsibility, we wouldn’t have all the issues we do today. Instead, it is much easier to point the finger at proud gun owning Americans and attack our 2nd Amendment rights.

What did the officer say about the response to the design?

The unnamed officer, who owns Warrior 12 clothing, told Blue Lives Matter that he has been "flooded with hate messages," according to the site.

"I've been having people accuse me of being responsible for the school shootings, of having blood on my hands," he said. "They are conflating a shirt about constitutional rights and personal responsibility with horrific acts of mass murder."

The officer also noted that he's also been accused of "being a pawn of the gun industry" and of "supporting the purchase of firearms."

"Well, I do support the purchase of firearms," he explained. "As a police officer, I've seen firsthand what happens when people's only option is to wait several minutes, or longer, for officers to arrive."

The officer added that if his business sells enough T-shirts, he plans to purchase even more guns.

He added that while it's understandable for people to be concerned over mass school killings in particular, the heart of the matter needs to be addressed rather than taking a knee-jerk stance and blaming mass killings on guns.

"Guns don't cause violence," the officer explained. "If we can examine and work on the actual root causes of violence, then that's when we'll see a reduction in violent acts."