The gun industry's deadly lie

[billh58]

Another school shooting. Another act of racial violence. Another senseless massacre. The death toll mounts. And the gun industry just keeps pushing more product.

For decades, the gun industry, in its eagerness to increase sales, has systematically and cynically exploited Americans’ fear and anxiety by representing that owning a gun makes you safer. This claim is demonstrably false—and gun manufacturers know it. Allowing it to persist just adds to the ever-increasing body count. Owning a gun makes you less safe. Study after study proves it.

It is long past time to stop the gun industry’s calculated disinformation campaign and to hold gun manufacturers accountable for their false, deceptive, and illegal advertising. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the body charged with protecting the American public from false advertising, has refused to do its job to keep Americans safe.

-Snip-

Far from making gun owners safer, it’s much more likely that a gun brought into the home to protect one’s family will be used in an unintentional shooting, domestic violence, or suicide. For decades, studies have confirmed as much: A 2013 study established that the risk of homicide is three times higher for people living in homes with a gun. Another found that the risk of suicide is up to five times higher for people living in a home with a gun and up to nine times higher if the gun is stored loaded.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-gun-industry-s-deadly-lie/ar-AAYh4R5?cvid=7b8bf8b2435146a18db0626852be5d6b

This persistent lie that gun humpers spout endlessly has been proven false over and over again, yet the NRA and other right-wingers keep promoting it. As noted elswhere in the article, not only are more guns a danger to those in the home, but young men frequently take these weapons from the home to go and commit heinous crimes.

Guns are specifically designed to kill, and they carry out that purpose with deadly consequences for innocent Americans.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Ads for tobacco products are required to carry warnings, as are the products.

Gun ads should carry similar warnings, similar to the fourth para above. And something similar permanently embossed on the gun itself.

Who's going to propose that legislation ?

[AndyS]

2. I wonder if there is recourse under this statute?

The federal Lanham Act allows civil lawsuits for false advertising that “misrepresents the nature, characteristics, qualities, or geographic origin” of goods or services. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). The FTC also enforces false advertising laws on behalf of consumers.Oct 18, 2021

[billh58]

3. Maybe an avenue

for Everytown to explore...