Two Connecticut senators are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate what they describe as “unfair and deceptive” marketing tactics employed by gun manufacturers.
With Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both D-Conn., co-wrote a letter that was sent Monday to FTC Chairwoman Lina M. Khan, calling on the agency to hold the gun industry accountable “for misleading consumers about the harm firearms can cause to themselves, their children and their communities.”
The letter was endorsed by nine of their Senate colleagues, including former presidential candidates Cory Booker, DN.J.; Dianne Feinstein, D-California; Amy Klobucharm, D-Minn. ; Kirsten Gillibrand, NY; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
In the letter, Blumenthal, Murphey and Markey claimed that manufacturers such as Daniel Defense are targeting children and teens, especially teens, by including references to contemporary cultural touchstones such as the popular shooter video game. the first person Call of Duty in their advertising. Daniel Defense and Remington Arms respectively manufactured the assault rifles used in the Uvalde and Sandy Hook school shootings.
The three senators cited the massacres, both perpetrated by young men, as examples of the harmful consequences of such marketing tactics. They noted that Uvalde school gunman Salvador Ramos, who was 18 when he murdered 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on May 24, was allegedly a Call of Duty fan.
The senators also argued that the gun industry misleads consumers about gun safety by portraying gun ownership as a necessary safety measure.
“The rare instances in which a firearm owner successfully uses a firearm in self-defense are more than offset by the significantly higher number of injuries and deaths for owners, family members and other cohabitants “, they wrote. “In fact, research indicates that for every instance a firearm in the home is successfully used in self-defense, there are 11 attempted or firearm-related suicides, seven felony assaults or homicides involving a firearm, and four unintentional shots.”
Separated by nearly a decade, the Uvalde and Sandy Hook school shootings are the deadliest ever in the United States. They killed a total of 47 people, not counting the shooters themselves; most of the victims were elementary school students.
In the months following Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in response to the tragedy, banned assault rifles and high-capacity magazines in the state. However, the ban has been challenged numerous times, most recently by the National Foundation for Gun Rights.
You can read the full letter here.
caroline.tien@hearst.com
