Posted on 12/07/2001 6:36:34 AM PST by Jean S
WASHINGTON (AP) - Gun sales are up since Sept. 11 and some manufacturers are pitching models by alluding to the terrorist attacks. Gun control advocates accuse the firearms industry of trying to profit from tragedy.
Nan Aron, president of the Washington-based Alliance for Justice, Rep. Henry Waxman (news - bio - voting record), D-Calif., and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (news - bio - voting record), D-N.Y., held a news conference Thursday to draw attention to gun-makers' marketing efforts.
The Ithaca Gun Co. is selling a line of ``Homeland Security'' pump-action shotguns ``in our current time of national need,'' according to the company's Web site. Another Web link Aron and Waxman displayed came from Tromix Corp., which is advertising a .50-caliber ``Turban Chaser'' rifle on its site.
The gun-maker Beretta is offering a ``United We Stand'' 9-millimeter pistol, similar to the sidearm U.S. soldiers have carried since 1985. A limited edition sold out in a day, spokesman Jeff Leh said.
The Italian gun maker, which has its American headquarters in Accokeek, Md., donated $100,000 to relatives of the victims of the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon (news - web sites) from sales of the limited edition. It is sending another $50 for each additional United We Stand gun it sells.
Leh said the company's marketing link to the terror attacks is based on its customers' patriotism and the jump in demand.
Gun control groups ``seem to be ignoring the fact that the right of self defense is the very right that this country is exercising right now,'' Leh said.
Aron criticized the link between gun sales and donations. ``We shouldn't seek to help the victims of one senseless tragedy by increasing the likelihood of more senseless tragedies,'' Aron said.
Gun makers, dealers and FBI (news - web sites) statistics all indicate that more Americans have been buying guns since the attacks. Attendance is up at National Rifle Association gun safety classes, NRA spokeswoman Trish Gregory said.
The alliance has put up 135 billboards in the Los Angeles area warning about the dangers of guns in the home, partly to respond to the 300 billboards the California Rifle and Pistol Association put up in October.
A ``pop quiz'' on the alliance billboards asserts that guns bought for self-defense lead to more domestic violence, suicides and accidental shootings.
``This campaign is a direct reaction to the gun industry's effort to boost gun sales in the wake of September 11,'' Aron said.
The California gun group's billboards carried the message, ``Society is safer when criminals don't know who's armed.'' The campaign was conceived and paid for before Sept. 11, said Chuck Michel, the association's spokesman.
But the message was even more relevant following the attacks, Michel said.
``I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about making people think about one of the tools that's available to ... respond to certain threats - threats that were every bit as real before Sept. 11, but threats people are much more aware of since Sept. 11,'' he said.
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On the Net:
Alliance for Justice: http://www.afj.org
National Rifle Association: http://www.nra.org
A truly evil woman who represents my childhood congressional district. She cashed in on her husband's murder on the LIRR by going on commercials supporting Mario Cuomo (remember New York?:"I am a Republican, but only Cuomo cares about getting guns off the street"). She then registers as a Dem and defeats Dan Frisa by about 12 points. Nobody ever get rich betting on the political intelligence of New Yorkers.
"Ted Kennedy's Driving has KILLED more people than MY GUN!"
I thought it was great!
If a company makes something that is useful in time of need, why is it shameful if they profit from it?
I think you've overlooked one factor here. The anti-gun groups are trying to take advantage of 9/11 to advance a cause that is fundamentally unrelated to the event - a cynical and dishonest endeavor. The firearms companies are using the event to appeal to people who feel they need more security by offering a product which actually will make them more secure - free enterprise at work (although I admit the link to national security is a little weak). The two are NOT the same.
heh heh good one! "Turban Chaser..." Nice mental image.
I remember her. One of her (phony) campaign promises was that the only reason why she ran on the Demo ticket was because of the gun issue. In her heart and mind (according to her), she was still a Republican on all other issues.
Of course only weeks later I watched her trash the Republican stance on the Medicaid and social security issues, using the DemocRAT talking points (read: propaganda) exactly word for word.
PS: Dan Frisa wasn't too smart. In fact he was a coward when it came to debating McCarthy.
McCarthy got off her campaign in March, I believe it was. Frisa waited untill the very last two months to start his campaign (if you can call it that) in September! And even when they had a televised debate scheduled, he would fail to show up (he did this more than once), turning the debate into an interview, leaving McCarthy with alot of free air time, unopposed.
How true.
But, since McCarthy and her friends object to the companies making a profit........
maybe the gunmakers should try to make them happy by offering 76 guns to the public at severely reduced prices.
I wonder how McCarthy would react to the gun companies' offer to cut into their own profits. Does anyone here think an offer like that would make McCarthy happier?
The companies could try variations on this theme. For example, they could use some contest to determine who wins one of 76 discount coupons.
Anyone remember that televised concert that was supposed to raise money for the victims of 9/11? The gun control advocates got a cut of that. (It was intended to be a full fledged fundraiser for gun control, BUT 9/11 happened and they turned it into a fundraiser for the 9/11 victims, but still the gun control advocates took a cut for themselves.)
The NRA on the other hand shut down the links on their website thatwas supposed to lead to their donation and membership pages.
A ``pop quiz'' on the alliance billboards asserts that guns bought for self-defense lead to more domestic violence, suicides and accidental shootings.
STILL with the lies. They'll never change.
LOL
PLANES are crashed by terrorists into buildings killing thousands of innocent Americans. Not a single gun was used. But ask Sarah Brady and HCI if they used the incidents as part of their fundraiser.
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