Sandy Hook parents press gunmakers to stop marketing weapons of war to kids

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Thu 4 Jan 2024 07.00 EST


Parents of children massacred in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting are stepping up their anti-gun violence campaign by exposing how the firearms industry is marketing weapons of war specifically to vulnerable adolescents.

In a fresh stage in their battle to staunch the rising loss of life from mass shootings, Sandy Hook parents are pressuring gun manufacturers to stop what they say is a cynical and aggressive effort to sell military-style weapons to young and impressionable Americans. They are alarmed by a shift in tone in gun advertising in which, they say, major companies have consciously decided to boost profits by targeting kids as young as 10.

“They are telling lonely and isolated children, ‘This is what you need to be a man, this is what’s going to make you powerful, this is how you avenge yourself on those who bullied you – you need an AR-15,’” said Nicole Hockley, CEO of the Sandy Hook Promise foundation. Hockley’s youngest son, Dylan, was six when he was murdered in the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. He was one of 20 six- and seven-year-olds gunned down, along with six adult staff.

The new Sandy Hook pressure campaign, dubbed Untargeting Kids, comes at a critical time in the US with mass shootings and gun deaths among those under 19 increasing at startling rates. Between 2019 and 2021, firearm deaths among US children and teens rose by 50%, making them the leading cause of death for these age groups above even car accidents.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/04/sandy-hook-parents-anti-gun-campaign-marketing-to-kids

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Link to "Untargeting Kids" report (displayed in a PDF reader) - https://sandyhookpromise.app.box.com/s/vrnwapxftjewxusthvz89x6dntlybke3

[Lovie777]

1. Gunmakers, NRA nor the GQP/RWers, etc.....................................

care about life. It's profits.

[twodogsbarking]

2. It's the guns.

Duh

[PSPS]

3. The NGA

[FakeNoose]

4. Movies and television need to be revamped also

Way too many weapons - along with way too much violence in general. But the guns on TV screens have influenced children's behavior since I was growing up in the 1950's. I hope the Sandy Hook parents are looking into ways of curbing the use of guns on television.

[LiberalFighter]

5. They should not be marketed to anyone but the military.

[berniesandersmittens]

6. K&R nt

[maxsolomon]

7. Gunmakers to Sandy Hook Parents:

LOL, no.