The House Oversight Committee is investigating how gunmakers market weapons following several mass shootings. The committee said that companies hard-sell masculinity, allude to white supremacist groups, and tout military-grade weaponry. “The industry is creating these customers and marketing to them,” a policy adviser told Insider. Leading gunmakers made more than $1 billion from selling AR-15-style semiautomatic weapons in the last decade, a report from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform says. These companies use “aggressive marketing tactics” to target young men by emphasizing masculinity, making veiled references to white supremacist groups, and touting military-grade weaponry, the committee report said. “The business practices of these gun manufacturers are deeply disturbing, exploitative, and reckless,” Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, committee chairwoman, said in a statement. Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive who is now a senior policy adviser to gun-safety advocacy group Giffords Law Center, told Insider that it is crucial to examine the ways that gun companies market their weapons. Busse noted the change in how guns had been pitched over the years – from an emphasis on hunting and self-defense to selling military-grade weapons and tactical culture. “The [gun] industry is both creating these customers and marketing to them. And therefore, it’s propagating more of this radicalization,” Ryan Busse said.
via businessinsider: Gun companies emphasize masculinity and make veiled references to white supremacist groups to sell AR-15-style rifles, congressional committee report says
By <a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Stag1500″ class=”extiw” title=”wikipedia:User:Stag1500″>Stag1500</a> at <a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/” class=”extiw” title=”wikipedia:”>English Wikipedia</a>
(<span lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Original text: Michael Sullivan</span>) – <span class=”int-own-work” lang=”en”>Own work</span> (<span lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Original text: self-made</span>), Public Domain, Link