An NRA charity event, 40 mile from Uvalde, planned to raffle off an AR-15 40, until they were shot down
In an exhibition of bad taste, sheer bloody-mindedness, or crushing stupidity, a charity associated with the NRA planned to raise money by raffling off an AR-15 in Hondo, TX — a mere 40 miles from the site of the Robb Elementary School massacre, where a gunman used an AR-15 to slaughter 19 children and two teachers.
Incensed Ulvalde residents begged the Hondo City council to act. And act they did. On Monday, by a vote of 4-1, they revoked a rental agreement that would have allowed members of the Medina Area Friends of NRA to hold a fundraiser at a site owned by the city of about 8,000 residents.
What was this NRA charity thinking? Of all the guns they could have raffled, why did it have to be an AR-15? I suspect there was an element of “in your face” boorishness. But the fundamental reason is financial. The NRA talks a lot about civil rights, 2A, and hunters. But that is a smoke screen. The real reason is that AR-15 sales are highly profitable to gun manufacturers.
According to an investigation prepared for the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, gun companies are raking in the AR-15 profits.
“Gun manufacturers collected more than $1 billion from the sale of AR-15-style semi-automatic weapons in the last decade—and sales are increasing as gun deaths and mass shootings rise.
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 from2019 to 2021, 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.”
This exuberant sales performance results from marketing designed to appeal to disaffected young men and older men with Rambo fantasies. As the report states,
Gun manufacturers employ a variety of financing tactics and manipulative marketing campaigns to sell AR-15-style rifles to civilians, including young people.
Materials obtained by the Committee show how sellers tout assault rifles’ military pedigree, make covert references to violent white supremacists like the Boogaloo Boys, and prey on young men’s insecurities by claiming their weapons will put them “at the top of the testosterone food chain.”
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.”
Sig Sauer describes its military-style weapon sold to civilians as an “apex predator” that meets the “demands of the Special Operations community.”
The NRA’s defense of AR-15 is to say they are an ideal weapon for ‘sports shooting’ (a vile euphemism) and are well-suited for hunting. As ex-NRA President David Keene wrote in humanevents.com,
“AR 15s are good for hunting. Some buy an AR for home defense and about six percent of buyers are either collectors or varmint hunters.”
Why “varmint”? It is the NRA’s strategy to claim that the AR-15 is an under-powered weapon, not even approved for hunting — Keene adds,
“The standard AR is illegal in most states for deer and big game hunting because it is not considered powerful enough to reliably put down deer-sized or larger game, but is used for coyote, wolf and feral pig hunting in many states.”
It is chutzpah to say that the AR-15 is not powerful while at the same time claiming it is an “apex predator”. And God only knows what he means by a “standard AR”. The reality is that owners celebrate AR-15s for their customizability. It merely provides a platform for the shooter to upgrade, including larger barrels.
As for the argument that the AR-15 is a good hunting rifle, consider that it rarely appears on the NRA’s own list of best-hunting rifles. It does not make the NRA/American Hunters list of “8 Great New Hunting Rifles for 2022.” Professional shooters describe those who use the AR-15 for hunting as “spray and pray” types.
And that reflects why the AR-15 is such an evil weapon. In WWI, the British Army trained its soldiers to fire 15 rounds in one minute. A semi-automatic AR-15 can fire 45 rounds in a minute, even in the hands of an inexperienced shooter. Also, the bullet is not designed to provide a “through and through” shot but rather to ‘tumble’ in the body — generating massive internal injuries. And finally, AR-15s can accommodate a 100-round magazine.
However, logic will not swat gun manufacturers who have largely avoided the consequences of their fatal pursuit of profit. Which is nothing new for corporate America. No one fought for the right to kill their customers harder than Big Tobacco.
And the fossil fuel companies are the heirs of the lead lobby that kept their poison in consumer products years after it was known to be poisonous. As early as 1925, the Surgeon General warned of the dangers of concentrated tetraethyl lead in gasoline. And although unleaded gas was universally available by 1975, it was not until 1996 — 71 years later — that the feds finally banned lead gas for new cars.
The least “pro-life” force in the US is money in politics.