Rep. Carolyn Maloney: 'How many more American children need to die before your [companies] will stop selling assault weapons to civilians?’
The day of (potential) reckoning for the Gun Manufacturers. You should read their written testimony & watch their oral testimony. I’m pretty sure the NRA gave the exes “direction” aka talking points
In early July of 2022 I explained to my readers why you should pay attention to the House Oversight July 27, 2022 hearing. Additionally I provided you with Dr Roy Guerrero, June 8, 2022 testimony — I’d encourage you to watch his oral testimony. Fair warning the details of the autopsies conducted on the 19 Uvalde Children and the 2 teachers —highlighted the unspeakable carnage caused by the AR-15 and .223 caliber ammunition. Also make sure you read the subsection concerning WeeTactical’s JR-15, found here because marketing a JR-AR-15;
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
Below I’ve taken the liberty of embedding the witnesses written statement before the House OverSight Committee, and I’ve specifically pulled certain sections of their written testimony. Also see the Committee’s page regarding today’s hearing. Because information is power and sharing is caring…
Christopher Killoy, President and Chief Executive Officer Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.
We do not oppose narrowly tailored legislation designed to address specific, identified gaps such as the Fix NICS Act. What we oppose is government overreach and unconstitutional legislation that demonstrates an unjustified bias against the firearms industry, its products and its law- abiding customers.
Marty Daniel, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Defense, LLC
By 2007, change was happening as most companies began combining guns with the political fear and conspiracy machine of the NRA. It worked very well because the same things that drove NRA radicalization, also drove gun sale…
…Prior to 2008 guns like the AR15 were a pariah, but they represented a new untapped market, the NRA and NSSF needed new political symbols and profit, and so companies like Smith and Wesson made the decision to get into the AR15 business. A few years later, the M&P15, as in Military and Police, became the best selling rifle in America. Eventually young male gun customers in places like Parkland Florida, Highland Park IL, and Kenosha Wisconsin all decided to use an M&P15.
Kelly Sampson, Senior Counsel and Director of Racial Justice Brady: United Against Gun Violence
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for American kids , which is a public health issue, not a private “evil hearts” problem.1 Indeed, no prevailing philosophy, theology, or world history suggests that “evil” is unique to the United States.
House Oversight Committee’s investigation:
The committee made the following finding of facts, to be clear some of the facts are worrisome. Especially when you read them in concert with the Gun Manufacturer testimony. For Example:
Gun manufacturers profited from the greater than $1 billion in the sales of AR-15-style semiautomatic weapons in the last decade —concluding that when the assault weapons ban sunsetted —this opened a new (and hugely profitable) market for gun manufacturers. For Example:
Daniel Defense’s revenue from AR-15-style rifles tripled from $40 million in 2019 to over $120 million in 2021.
Ruger’s gross earnings from AR-15-style rifles also nearly tripled during the same time-span, increasing from $39 million to over $103 million.
Smith & Wesson’s revenue from all long guns, which include AR-15-style rifles, more than doubled between 2019 and 2021, from $108 million to $253 million.
When you blend the combined sales of these gun manufacturers, this resulted in “putting hundreds of thousands of military-grade AR-15-style rifles into communities every year” (emphasis added). Moreover the Committee also concluded:
“Sales and marketing materials obtained by the Committee show how sellers tout assault rifles’ military pedigree, make sly references to violent white supremacists like the Boogaloo Boys, and prey on young men’s sense of masculinity by claiming their weapons will put them “at the top of the testosterone food chain.”
What is clear, post the assault weapons ban (sunset) many gun manufacturers opted to used; “ a variety of financing tactics and manipulative marketing campaigns to sell AR-15-style rifles to civilians, including young people. “ For Example;
Smith & Wesson markets its assault rifle with advertisements that mimic first-person shooter video games popular with children.
Daniel Defense sells the assault weapon used in the Uvalde shooting on credit, bragging that financing is approved “in seconds.”
I think the most disheartening and horrid realization is, these same gun manufacturersadmitted; “they fail to track or monitor deaths, injuries, or crimes that occur using their products, and fail to track when their products have been illegally modified”
None of the aforementioned gun manufacturers have implode a system or process in place to gather “safety data related to their products” —additionally the Committee requested the gun manufacturers provide the Committee “with any internal analyses of the dangers caused by selling their military-style weapons to civilians”
Sig Sauer asserted that it does “not have the means” to track deaths caused by its products, while Ruger said it only learns of these incidents through its “customer service department,” the media, or “occasionally” from lawsuits.
Bushmaster claimed… has been newly acquired by another company, it was “aware of no such deaths or injuries” caused by its products, even though the racist shooter in Buffalo killed 10 people with a Bushmaster-branded assault weapon in May 2022.
There is zero debate that America has more guns than actual citizens. And while the second amendment does state “shall not be infringed upon” what the gun manufacturers and gun owner (I’m talking about the fanatical gun nuts, not Americans who own a firearm for protection) —they often seem to overlook the very first four words of the Second Amendment:
“A well regulated militia…”
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Lastly and arguably the most important point: the victims of gun violence deserve to have their voices heard. That alone should compel Congress to enact legislation with an emphasis on commonsense gun safety. American Children deserve to go to school without the constant fear of a active shooter. American parents deserved to drop off their children at school and know they will return home safely.
But according to the NRA & Gun Manufactures “a good guy with a gun will take a bad guy down” that false narrative. Ask the Uvalde parents their opinion on this gross counter argument by the NRA & gun manufacturers. There were nearly 400 “good guys” that waited 77 long, agonizing and painful minutes before CPB neutralized the gunman. Again I would urge you to take the time and read the interim report, in its entirety. However I’d like to walk you through some high level observations. I’ve embedded the report below (Interim) Robb Elementary Investigative Committee Report
The bottom line is it’s clear these gun manufacturers have consistently put profit and market share above the safety of innocent school children, teachers, parishioners, movie goers, concert goers. The fourteenth amendment states that theState may not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” —
And lastly your daily saltwater therapy -now if you’ll excuse me I have to shove a sandwich in my calorie hole. Don’t most normal individuals use their lunchtime to finish up the final edits of a Substack article? (Snort and yes I’ll show myself out) Be Well -Filey
Rep. Carolyn Maloney: 'How many more American children need to die before your [companies] will stop selling assault weapons to civilians?’