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Guns N Roses sue shop selling guns and roses, Axl Rose vows to stop throwing microphones
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 5 December 2022
Guns N Roses are suing a Texas firearms store for trademark infringement because they don’t want their name to be associated with… erm, guns.
Texas Guns And Roses has been selling guns and (yep) roses for at least the last eight years – having filed to register the name as a trademark in 2014. The operation is owned by Jersey Village Florists (hence the roses) in Houston, Texas.
The band say that they have sent several cease and desist letters to the store over the years, and have also filed a petition to have the retailer’s trademark cancelled, all to no avail.
The band now say that they have no choice but to sue, because otherwise it is clear that the “defendant will continue to use … the Guns N Roses mark or marks confusingly similar thereto, and will cause irreparable damage to GNR”.
The apparent association between the band and shop is “particularly damaging” because of the “nature of defendant’s business”, the lawsuit confirms.
Although they also add that the Texas Guns And Roses website carries a news section reporting on US second amendment related stories, in which “defendant espouses political views related to the regulation and control of firearms and weapons on the website that may be polarising to many US consumers”.
Guns N Roses are seeking a judgement that their trademark has been infringed; an injunction preventing the store from using its current name; the cancellation of the store’s own trademark; and some damages.
This move has seemingly already had the desired effect, with the Texas Guns And Roses website now offline.
Elsewhere in Guns N Roses news, frontman Axl Rose has apologised to a fan and said that – after 30 years of doing so – he will stop throwing his microphone into the audience at the end of his shows. This comes after a fan in Australia was injured by his flying mic last month.
Rebecca Howe was left with two black eyes after being hit by the microphone at a show at Adelaide’s Oval venue on 29 Nov.
She told the Adelaide Advertiser: “I was in Diamond Standing, so it wasn’t even right at the front, and it was the very last song, ‘Take Me Down To Paradise City’. He took a bow and then he launched the microphone out to the crowd … and then bang, [it hit me] right on the bridge of my nose”.
“My mind went, ‘Oh my God, my face is caved in”, she added. “What if it was a couple of inches to the right or left? I could have lost an eye … what if it hit me in the mouth and I broke my teeth? If my head was turned and it hit me in the temple, it could have killed me”.
In response on Twitter last week, Rose said: “It’s come to my attention that a fan may have been hurt at [our] show in Adelaide Australia possibly being hit by the microphone at the end of the show when I traditionally toss the mic to the fans. If true obviously we don’t want anyone getting hurt or to somehow in anyway hurt anyone at any of [our] shows anywhere”.
“Having tossed the mic at the end of [our] show for over 30 years we always felt it was a known part of the very end of [our] performance that fans wanted and were aware of to have an opportunity to catch the mic”, he added. “Regardless in the interest of public safety from now on we’ll refrain from tossing the mic or anything to the fans during or at [our] performances”.
He then blamed the media for blowing the whole thing out of proportion, saying: “Unfortunately there [are] those that for their own reasons chose to frame their reporting regarding this subject in a more negative [and] irresponsible out of nowhere light which couldn’t [be] farther from reality. We hope the public and of course [our] fans get that sometimes happens”.
Guns N Roses are set to headline a show as part of the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park on 30 Jun. Bad luck if you were hoping to catch a microphone there. Or buy some guns.
