Gun CEOs “invited” to testify, House Oversight investigation into Gun Manufacturers’ Sales and Marketing of AR-15-Style Weapons
May of 2022 the House Oversight Committee announced an investigation into gun manufacturers responsible for selling assault weapons to civilians. Or marketing/designing an AR-15 for CHILDREN aka JR-15
…it’s been a while, although I’m pretty sure I explained (on July 1st) that I was going to indulge in some self-saltwater-care. Our renters had an unexpected emergency. Which meant the beach house would be vacant over the 4th of July weekend. And it made zero sense to have the house empty over the holiday week/weekend. The perks of telecommuting does have its benefits. Lastly I have to say, beach front fireworks on the 4th of July should be on your bucket list.
On July 8, 2022 the House Oversight Committee announced
May 2022 FBI Designates 61 Active Shooter Incidents in 2021…a 50% increase from 2020
May 2022 - House Oversight letters to Bushmaster Firearms Industries, Daniel Defense, LLC, Sig Sauer, Inc., Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., and Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., which requested information regarding their manufacture, marketing, and sales of firearms used in mass shootings…
Despite strong public support for an assault-weapon ban in light of the horrific violence perpetrated with assault-style rifles, your company continues to manufacture large quantities of assault weapons and aggressively market them to the public…The Committee respects the rights of law-abiding Americans under the Second Amendment, but that does not excuse irresponsible corporate conduct that fuels deadly gun violence and endangers our children. The Committee is investigating the sale and marketing of your company’s AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles and similar firearms to inform legislative efforts to achieve common-sense gun safety reform to save Americans’ lives.”
June 2022 - Office of the Solicitor General Supreme Court Briefs for U.S. Department of Justice -bump stocks-
June 2022 - Thoughts and Prayers do not replace accountability, prevention and intervention. Which included the May 2022 letter & Protecting our Kids Act
June 2022 House Oversight hearing
Full disclosure Dr Roy Guerrero, June 8, 2022 testimony is incredibly graphic. Nonetheless I do think it’s important for you to watch and read his previous testimony…(you can watch the six hour full hearing here) —the Committee’s June 8, 2022 hearing hearing on gun violence…
…two children whose bodies have been pulverized by bullets fired at them decapitated. Who’s flesh had been ripped apart that the only clue at their identities was a blood splattered cartoon clothes still clinging to them. Clinging for life and finding none. I could only hope these two bodies were a tragic exception to the list of survivors. But as I waited there with my fellow Uvalde doctors nurses first responders and hospital staff for other casualties…we had hoped to save. They never arrived. All that remained was the bodies of 17 more children and the two teachers.
As you’ll note Dr Guerrero’s oral (and written) testimony provided lawmakers with a first hand account of the injuries sustained by a .223 caliber bullet. Again the AF-15 is known as a “military-type weapon” and I don’t think I need to regurgitate what (former) Justice Scalia said in the majority SCOTUS Opinion…
July 8, 2022 additional letters to Gun Manufacturers…
If by chance you are tracking the unique American problem of near daily miss shootings (see Gun Violence Archive) below are a few data points to put gun violence into perspective:
January 2022 thru present 322 mass shootings in the US
more than 22,519+ individuals have died via gun violence, thus far
an average of 124 individuals either die or are injured by guns (see CDC data)
it’s ONLY July 2022 and only 188 days into the full 365 days.
“Just this Monday, as Americans celebrated our nation’s Independence Day, a shooter used an AR-15-style rifle to kill at least seven people and wound dozens of others during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. Products sold by your company have been used for decades to carry out homicides and even mass murders, yet your company has continued to market assault weapons to civilians.”
Click here to read the letter to Daniel Defense. See YouTube Channel -they also have a subsidiary: Ambush Firearms (see Company History)
Since selling our first AR in 2009, we work each day to deliver products unmatched in quality, precision, and world-class customer service. From our inception, the company has striven to control every facet of production and today makes nearly every component part it sells. This differentiates us from many industry players who basically assemble rather than build their products
Click here to read the letter to Smith & Wesson Brands. See YouTube Channel
Smith & Wesson is dedicated to freedom, quality, security, and the promise of the United States of America. Behind every product we build is your faith in us, a duty we proudly honor. Empowering Americans since 1852.
Click here to read the letter to Sturm, Ruger & Company. See YouTube Channel
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. is a firearms manufacturer for responsible citizens. Find original online video series, technical videos that include disassembly, cleaning and reassembly instructions for Ruger products, as well as feature videos for new products.
And while the House Oversight’s investigation into the marketing and profiting off “military style” weapons is a laudable endeavor, what I do find troubling is the Committee hasn’t made any public pronouncements of firearm companies specified making guns for children:
In January 2022 WeeTactical’s JR-15 which was specifically designed and marketed towards children. Read more here or you can read Fast Company's report or Marshall Project Report.
In February of 2022 California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted the following, referring to the marketing of a “JR-15” specifically geared towards children “vile”. What’s odd it appears in late February or early March of 2022 Schmidt Tool d/b/a WeeTactical all but scrubbed their online presence. But here’s the “official” debut/launch of the “kids AR-15”
…built a gun whose “ergonomics are geared towards children”: it’s lighter than an adult version, at 2.2 pounds, 20% smaller, and with a patented safety mechanism, not standard on AR-15s, which needs to be pulled out “with some force” and rotated before it can fire. Slight tweaks aside, the company boasts that it “operates just like Mom and Dad’s gun.”
Again that pdf and press release appear to have been removed sometime in late February or early March 2022 —see current website, also see WayBack archive of Company’s website —I certainly hope the House Oversight committee will “invite” Schmidt Tool aka Wee1Tactical to provide information and testimony concerning its January 2022 Launch of the “JR-15” (see Apache-Rifleworks Facebook post here)….which was specifically designed for children
And lastly your daily saltwater therapy —but I now have to get back to my actual J-O-B because apparently the red team meeting caused the responsive document to bleed and I’m on a tight 4PM deadline. Whispers it’s always fun to properly manage track changes on a document but I tend to preemptively make aforesaid (actually anticipated) charges before the team’s edits. In my line of work it’s mandatory to “plan ahead”…
PS —I plan to resume daily publications starting next Monday but again that will largely be predicated on my work load which has been somewhat like “feast or famine” and it’s unclear when my workload will resume to normal capacity.
Be Well
Filey
1994 saw Clinton signing the assault weapons ban. I’m 2004, it wasn’t renewed and allowed to lapse. The ban saw 43% downward turn in gun violence. In 2004, we had the Bush admin. Gun violence doesn’t ascribe to a political party when it happens but one party threw aside the statistics in favor of their 2nd amendment stance. I hesitate saying rights because when the founding fathers decided on right to bear arms, they had muskets & fighting for freedom & independence from King George. I don’t think the founding fathers could wrap their heads around a world where an AR-15 & other weapons like it, can spray huge rounds of bullets for mass murder.
What a nice surprise; thank you for this! The JR-15 makes my stomach sick! I hope the beach has done you well.
I own a gun; I live in the country in North Central Fl. with 3 mentally challenged men. I took one of the guys into a pawn shop one day to look at a trailer for hauling hay they had advertised. While I was discussing this trailer with an employee, another employee was trying to sell a gun to the gentleman with me. I went to the employee after I took my guy away from him and said he is mentally challenged. Said employee replied it was fine, he could purchase if he had the cash! We left, my guy talking about the gun and me in disbelief. Why, why would someone want to sell a gun to someone they were told is mentally challenged?!? Or children? Or those 18-22 year olds. What has happened to this Country?