For those who cheered the death of Osama bin Laden, there are many ways to celebrate the passing of the most wanted terrorist in the world: T-shirts, pins, hats, coffee mugs, even mouse pads.
They are all meant to commemorate the shooting death of bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida who was slain Sunday in a sprawling compound in Pakistan.
Nearly a decade after the World Trade Center towers were diminished to rubble in New York City streets because of a plot by bin Laden, U.S. armed forces finally caught up with him. And with his death, there were celebrations everywhere, from the streets of New York and Washington, D.C., to a bar in Tampa.
Now the celebrations and subsequent surge in patriotism have turned into a quest for items to mark the historic occasion. They range from tasteful patriotic themes to messages that are less tasteful.
"Game Over," reads one shirt. "Osama bin Obama'd," says another. "Osama bin killed," still another reads. Some of the images show bin Laden with a bullet hole in his head.
Randy Heine, owner of Rockin Cards and Gifts in Pinellas Park, hopes to stock some of the items on his shelves by Friday.
"This is going to be a very hot item for a short period of time," Heine said Tuesday. "I don't think they are going to do a lot of runs of these."
Heine said he doesn't see anything wrong with people being happy about and making a buck off bin Laden's death.
"It's the primitive instinct in all of us to be happy that the boogey man has been killed," Heine said.
A company in Tampa that manufactures clothing and collectibles is also getting in on the market.
Encore Select, in the West Shore area, began printing T-shirts on Tuesday afternoon. It hopes to do eight different designs and start with 5,000 shirts per design to be shipped to individual stores and for sale online.
"It's more to reflect the feeling that most people had when they heard the news," said company President Richard Moore. "One for the good guys. It's some positive news."
Some Encore shirts will be more patriotic themed; others involve satire related to bin Laden. One of those says "Hide and Seek, World Champion, 2001-2011, Game Over."
One shirt shows a large American flag and says, "Bye Bye Bin Laden, Courtesy of USA." Another says "Bin Laden Been Gotten."
Each costs $19.99.
Moore said the company won't produce products that he deems in bad taste, with bullet holes in bin Laden's head or questionable wording.
A portion of proceeds from the shirt sales will go to the 9/11 Memorial fund. -The Tampa Tribune