The daddy of a mass taking pictures sufferer and two gun security teams petitioned the federal authorities on Sunday to cease the firearms producer
The daddy of a mass taking pictures sufferer and two gun security teams petitioned the federal authorities on Sunday to cease the firearms producer Smith & Wesson from utilizing what they described as “misleading and unfair” advertising to advertise assault-style rifles.
The daddy, Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, died within the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty bloodbath in Parkland, Fla., joined with the advocacy teams Brady and Everytown for Gun Security to ship a criticism to the Federal Commerce Fee.
As a part of the criticism, Mr. Guttenberg and the gun management teams mentioned that Smith & Wesson mimicked first-person-shooter video video games in its promoting supplies to draw adolescents and younger adults. They added that the advertising of the corporate’s AR-15-style weapons “attracts, encourages and facilitates mass shooters” and “performed a major function” within the Parkland taking pictures, in response to the criticism.
Smith & Wesson didn’t instantly reply.
Smith & Wesson is the maker of the M&P15 .223 rifle utilized by the 19-year-old shooter within the 2018 Parkland bloodbath. The criticism urged the federal company to research the corporate and to require that it embrace warnings in a few of its advertising supplies.
Mr. Guttenberg and the 2 advocacy teams additionally argued that the fee ought to prohibit the M&P model — which stands for “navy and police” — from making use of images related to the navy and regulation enforcement to promote its merchandise to civilians.
M&P rifles have been utilized in a number of mass shootings, together with in Aurora, Colo., in 2012; in San Bernardino, Calif., in 2015; and in Poway, Calif., last year.
Gun safety activists have long taken issue with how firearms are marketed. Relatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims have said in a court case that the Remington Arms Company, which made the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the 2012 massacre, recklessly marketed the gun to disturbed young men through violent video games and aggressive ads.
The Federal Trade Commission regulates marketing from social media influencers, ads from tobacco companies and, more recently, claims about coronavirus cures and loans. Over the last two decades, the agency has dealt with few cases involving how guns are advertised, according to the gun safety groups.
Mr. Guttenberg said in an interview that he turned to the agency after facing “somewhat insurmountable” hurdles trying to raise his concerns about Smith & Wesson in Florida’s court system.
“I’m a realist,” he said. “The F.T.C. may not do much, but others potentially will.”
With a nudge from the commission, he added, elected officials may be moved to take further action.
“Times are different now,” Mr. Guttenberg said. “There are enough elected people in this country willing to address this topic in ways they were afraid to do in years past.”
The 34-page complaint accuses Smith & Wesson of cultivating a “halo” of credibility by running ads that appeared to feature active members of the military carrying firearms resembling M&P rifles. It cites the company’s use of slogans that suggested ties to law enforcement and the military such as “To Uphold. To Protect. To Defend” and “The Line of Duty.”
Most of the rifles are sold to civilians rather than to the military or law enforcement, according to the complaint.
The complaint also faulted Smith & Wesson for marketing to male adolescents and young adults on social media platforms like Instagram, where the company has a million followers, and through ads that evoked video games, with text like “experience more adrenaline” and “experience real-life first person shooting.”
The gun industry has suffered in recent years. When President Trump was elected in 2016 after frequent shows of support for the firearms industry, sales slumped. Gun buyers seemed no longer worried about losing access to firearms, leaving sellers with stockpiles of the guns they had amassed in anticipation of a Hillary Clinton victory.
Demand has lately ticked upward. Some gunmakers have adjusted their marketing to be gentler and more inclusive. In March, as the coronavirus pandemic intensified, Americans bought two million guns, the busiest month ever for sales since January 2013.
Smith & Wesson dates back to the 1850s and is based in Springfield, Mass. In March, its parent company said the number of handguns it shipped to distributors and retailers increased 4.7 percent in its most recent quarter. But shipments of long guns sank 31.8 percent, in part because a series of mass shootings put off several major retailers.