Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

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This is something I just posted in a Discord server for women gamers. I wanted to get the feedback of non gun owners on something, but I'd also like to run the idea by LGC members, too.

In response to the Uvalde shooting there has been lots of talk over in the Liberal Gun Club Discord that I admin. The club is opposed to gun bans, of course, but we do want to do things that address the underlying causes of violence. One of those causes is the toxic masculinity that runs so deeply in American gun culture, and indeed I've read things in the news the past couple of days suggesting that this may have contributed to the Uvalde shooting.

I'm not going to sit here and argue against gun bans - I think they are coming eventually whether I like it or not and despite me believing they will be ineffective.

What I do want to do is find something that we can do that would not only be widely supported but would also address the root causes of violence. To that end I yesterday proposed something that was well received by the LGC members, and even by our chief legal council. Namely I propose that we start regulating gun advertisements the way we do cigarette and tobacco advertisements. In particular I would like to see some sort of prescription on what can be in a gun advertisement, such as a neutral photo of the gun and a statement of it's specifications.

No fancy wording. No macho imagery. Nothing that portrays the gun in a glamorized kind of way.

Here are some examples of the kind of advertisements I want banned:

https://i.insider.com/50d2b093ecad040b3 ... width=1200

https://www.motherjones.com/wp-content/ ... m11-ad.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/99/a3/94/99a3 ... tising.jpg

The point of this is to get gun makers to stop pushing the ultra macho toxic imagery of what it means to be a man and to make gun advertisements less appealing. Maybe even make them have something like the Surgeon General's warning on cigarette packs: "Gun are used in most suicides", "Every year more than 300 children die from using unsecured guns". That kind of thing. Communicating the danger of guns, and thus the high level of responsibility needed to own one, should be a requirement.

Anyway, this is still an idea that is bubbling in my head and I will probably start writing my congress creeps about it. (Ugh! Ted Cruz!) What do you guys think of this? Is it something you'd support, either on it's own or as part of a large gun control package? Do you have any suggestions to improve the idea?
106+ recreational uses of firearms
1 defensive use
0 people injured
0 people killed

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

2
Toxic masculinity and incels compound the problem, both subject to exploitation and propaganda. I'd be for your proposal without hesitation.

We keep closing the gate after the corral is empty and accomplish zilch.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

3
I'm not sure I agree that the mossburg ad is toxic, it can go either way, a generalization about why you should have a shotgun for home protection.

The way I see it going is 48 hours waiting period, background checks for all gun sales and a license/permit like you have to do to buy a machine gun or sound suppressor.

And what bugs me is the liberal media going on about how AR's are military grade weapons with large magazines.

That said I wish my lower would ship. I'm getting kinda worried about it.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

4
The free speech aspect would kill such a proposal, as meritorious as it may be. It might be better to offer an alternative. I think an alternative would be, "Real men shoot Bullseye. One handed." Not just because I do, but it lets men compete without all that toxicity. Either that shot was an 8 or a 9. Ruling? Frightened the line but did not touch it? 8. Men can do rules.

The toxicity is not necessary. We like to compete, but we don't have to be toxic. However, if you say we can't, we will because reasons. If an alternative is offered, we might go for it. The first is a sure thing: say no and suffer. The second provides a path for the non toxic. The toxic numbers are small, but they're loud. An alternative allows men to ignore the loud and have fun.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

6
The ARs look like a military weapon and to many people, they go for the looks but not the action. Many have laughed at my Ruger Mini 14 Ranch rifle and said it's not as good as their AR. I point out that it shoots the same ammo and I can get the same large 30 round magazines for it. I can put almost all the same optics and lights along with other add ons they can have and using a 5 round mag it is legal in all fifty states. Ruger advertises it as a Ranch Rifle to be used to hunt varmints and protect your animals. It looks old fashion and not Johnny Joe cool military. The arguments reminds me of my youth in high school when guys would jack up their cars and add all sort of racing looks the get shut down by some guy in his dads sedan. Because it was not the looks but what was under the hood.

As for the ads I remember the reprints of the ads from the 1920s of the Thompson submachine gun being advertised as the gun for ranchers to use against varmints.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

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I agree that the Mossberg ad is not the best example, tonguengroover. I only spent a few minutes looking for examples, actually, and didn't have any magazine handy to find current ads.

As for free speech concerns, CDfingers, I think that would not be much of an issue. Commercial speech is and always has been regulatable and the laws on cigarette advertisements, which actually include forced speech in the form of the white warning boxes, stand as a very strong precendent.
106+ recreational uses of firearms
1 defensive use
0 people injured
0 people killed

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

13
Are the warning boxes on cigarettes doing any good? I have my doubts. Frankly, I can't believe anyone under 40, maybe 50, smokes. There is absolutely no redeeming quality for smoking. The U.S. Government shit canned that crap in the '70s and beat the tar out of that industry that lied for decades about their product. What happened? We got little boxes and heavy restrictions on advertising. RJ Reynolds went international.

In the last decade or so I think I've seen a resurgence in smoking. What are these people thinking?

The firearm industry just isn't like the tobacco industry.

Prop 65 here in CA ended up meaning everything has a health risk because virtually everything has a Prop 65 Warning Label on it.

I think we are overloaded with labels.

In the '70s and '80s things were sold with Tits (Old World Vernacular). Now things are still sold with sex, but now we are seeing "Tactical" being used with everything.

That "Man Card" ad? It's stupid but I am sure I'm not the target audience. They are selling "Tactical Sex". What a peak for marketing.

I think your proposal is too close to legislating morality.

Do you think the gaming industry, as in first person shooter type games, should be regulated as well? I don't play them but there are a lot of games that have integrated real firearms and weapons into their games, with attempts at ballistics. Should they be restricted?

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

15
I think BKinzey has a point, it's problematic what the OP suggests. Where do we draw the line, perhaps there's a relationship between toxic masculinity and shooter games or not. Perhaps it does skim close to legislating morality. I wonder if there would be a better way to address the OP's point than legislation. Perhaps simply education leading to awareness.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Regulate gun advertisements like cigarettes?

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Well I'd say there definitely needs to be education. This kind of macho toxicity is rampant in right wing culture, after all. My suggestion is just one thought about how to approach things, and I think it's something that could possibly get enough support from both sides of the political aisle in Congress and actually get passed, especially right now while these shootings are on everyone's minds and there's an urge to "do something".
106+ recreational uses of firearms
1 defensive use
0 people injured
0 people killed

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