This diary is being written mostly to call your attention to the article referenced above. If you're in a big hurry, it is here. That is the first page, with a separate page allocated to each of those 10 things. For example, page 4 is item 4, the fact that the gun industry markets to kids.
"4. "We want your kids to play with guns.""
(To preempt the quibble that is sure to come, "market" is not the same word as "sell".)
Before we get into the article, however, take a look at the source of this information. They are not some gun-grabbing liberal do-gooders. They are not second amendment junkies of any ilk, pro or con. Their abiding interest is the almighty dollar. Specifically, they are about that capitalist dollar to which, by divine right, all profits flow; that dollar that earns other dollars simply by being "invested". Yet, they take the time and effort to inform us of these "10 things the gun industry won’t tell you".
That said, let's jump below the tangled web they weave for a second ...
It could perhaps be those things are all about money, but, they aren't solely about money. Their first item is all about the myth that guns make you safer, and is entitled
"1. “Owning our product may be hazardous to your health.”"
As always, one must be aware that correlation is not causation, but, as they put it:
"What’s more, a growing body of research suggests that simply owning a gun is correlated with an increased likelihood that you’ll be a victim of violence. A study published this January in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people who live in homes with firearms are over three times as likely to die from suicide and two times as likely to be a victim of homicide as those who don’t have access to firearms. The study analyzed the results of 16 other studies and found that in all but one, access to guns was linked to a higher probability of murder or suicide."
Their
third point,
"3. "Guns get special treatment under the law."
concerns the fact that the law allegedly makes it more difficult to sue gun manufacturers for negligence and product liability. This, of course, is good for investors, but less so for those who had hoped to bankrupt manufacturers by suing them each time one of their products was used to shoot an innocent person. I found the treatment by Market Watch to be pretty level headed and objective, materialist even, but that is my reading. One cannot read something like this without bringing one's own views, opinions and beliefs into the picture.
To the extent that this means that one cannot sue when one is accidently harmed due to a defect in the weapon, especially if there is negligence involved, this is clearly bad. If a company knowingly creates or sells a product which, when properly and correctly used, is dangerous to the user or innocent bystanders, then they should be legitimate targets of suits for damages, just like the makers of any other class of products.
On the other hand, if my neighbor were to use any household, workshop, garden, or camping implement as a weapon to do me harm, I shouldn't be able to sue the manufacturer. It shouldn't pass the laugh test and should be tossed out of court. I should even be stuck with costs. I cannot see why guns should be handled differently. Even those designed at least in part specifically for killing people, such as military weapons, aren't presumptively designed for shooting your spouse, boss or neighbors. (I have been informed that folks do sue manufacturers of household goods that have been as weapons and sometimes prevail, and can only say that I find such a case to be appalling.)
Similarly, their handling of point nine
"9. “We sell guns to people you might not want us to.”
seems pretty even-handed to me. Their point is that there is no prohibition on selling to persons on the terrorist watch list, nor any prohibition on them owning guns.
To me, that is as it should be. The watch list is a fraud, a mistake and a hotbed of abuse. Senator Kennedy was on it for years. Some of the first post 9/11 inclusions were some pacifists. That list constitutes conviction with no charge, evidence, right to confront accusers and worse. Also, if somebody should happen to wind up on it who is a legitimate threat, the decision to inform them that we're hip to that fact should be left up to the spy agencies and not some random gun dealer.
Being marketing wallahs, they naturally note in point number ten that bullets are the butter for the bread.
"10. "Ammo is our secret (business) weapon.""
I recall that urban legend attributes the idea to Gillette of giving away free safety razors to get the male populace hooked unto perpetuity on buying Gillette razor blades. Similarly, bullets make up a big chunk of armament industry revenues, though not all gun manufacturers participate in this revenue stream. There is an inexplicit tie to their second point (Fear Sells) that fear of ammo shortages can drive increased ammo sales (at premium prices, iirc).
Remember, this is Market Watch, with an abiding interest in the capitalist dollar, and, one would presume, no other horse in this race. Now, go read the article.
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