January, 13 2011, 02:27pm EDT
Gun Industry Holds Annual Trade Show in Aftermath of AZ Shooting
SHOT Show an Example of a Politically Powerful Industry Desperate to Hide Its Decline
WASHINGTON
Next week, America's
gunmakers will assemble for the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade)
Show, the annual trade show for the firearms industry. As household gun
ownership has dropped dramatically since the early 1970s and America's
youth turn away from guns, the SHOT Show is proof of the gun industry's embrace
of increased lethality to shore up its fading market and declining sales.
The SHOT Show will bring together
hundreds of vendors - including Glock, a manufacturer of pistols used in
multiple mass shootings, which markets its handguns as "pocket rockets" - and tens of
thousands of attendees, as lawmakers in Congress are expected to introduce
legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines like those used in last
week's mass shooting in Arizona. The show comes at a time that most of
the major gun manufacturers are experiencing a significant decline in demand
and falling sales.
Josh
Sugarmann,
executive director of the Violence Policy Center,
states, "Most Americans would be shocked
at what the gun industry has become. For those deeply concerned by the
firepower unleashed in Arizona last week, the SHOT Show proves that America's
increasingly militarized gun industry has embraced heightened firepower and
greater ammunition capacity in its marketing efforts to a shrinking customer
base."
DETAILS
FOR NEWS MEDIA
While closed to the general public, the
SHOT Show is open to the news media. Below is information from the SHOT
Show's sponsor, the gun industry trade association the National Shooting Sports
Foundation.
WHAT:
SHOT Show
WHERE:
Sands Expo and
Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV
WHEN:
Tuesday, January 18 - Friday, January 21, 2011
SHOT SHOW CONTACT
INFORMATION:
Web:
https://www.shotshow.org/en/Media
Email:
shot@compusystems.com
Phone:
203-426-1320
BACKGROUND
FOR NEWS MEDIA
The Violence Policy Center has released studies that demonstrate
the gun industry's reliance on increased lethality, militarization, and
political lobbying in its failed efforts to stem the long-term decline in
American household gun ownership.
DECLINING GUN OWNERSHIP
In light of long-term decreases in
household gun ownership in the United States and the industry's ongoing
concerns that it lacks 'replacement shooters' to take the place of an aging
market, these marketing trends represent a concerted effort to re-sell current
gun owners.
(See the VPC study "A Shrinking
Minority: The Continuing Decline of Gun Ownership in America," https://www.vpc.org/studies/gunownership.pdf.)
INCREASED FIREPOWER, HIGH-CAPACITY
HANDGUNS
Small, high-capacity "pocket
rocket" (a term coined by handgun manufacturer Glock) pistols designed for
concealed carry. Such manufacturers scheduled to be at the SHOT Show
include: Smith & Wesson; Sturm,Ruger; Sig Sauer; Glock; and, Beretta.
(See the VPC study "Pocket Rockets:
The Gun Industry's Sale of Increased Firepower," https://www.vpc.org/studies/pockcont.htm).
REBRANDING MILITARY-STYLE ASSAULT WEAPONS
The industry is attempting to rebrand
military-style assault weapons as "modern sporting rifles," primarily
AK-47 and AR-15 rifle and pistol models. Numerous assault rifle models are purchased in quantity on the civilian market in the U.S. and then illegally trafficked into Mexico where they help feed ongoing drug
wars. Such manufacturers scheduled as exhibitors at the SHOT Show include: DPMS; Bushmaster; Century International Arms; Rock River Arms, FN (Fabrique National); and, Colt's Manufacturing
Company.
(See the VPC study, "Indicted: Types
of Firearms and Methods of Gun Trafficking from the United States to Mexico as Revealed in U.S. Court
Documents,"https://www.vpc.org/studies/indicted.pdf.)
MARKETING ARMOR-PIERCING MILITARY WEAPONS
FOR CIVILIAN USE
The most stark example of the industry's
embrace of military technology is its manufacture and marketing of 50 caliber
sniper rifles (like those used by U.S. troops overseas) that can penetrate
armor-plating from a mile away and can down jetliners on take-off and
landing. Such manufacturers scheduled to be at the SHOT Show
include: Barrett; Armalite; and, Bushmaster.
(See the VPC study "Clear and
Present Danger: National Security Experts Warn About the Danger of Unrestricted
Sales of 50 Caliber Anti-Armor Sniper Rifles to Civilians,"https://www.vpc.org/studies/50danger.pdf.)
The Violence Policy Center (VPC) works to stop gun death and injury through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration. Founded in 1988 by Executive Director Josh Sugarmann, a native of Newtown, Connecticut, the VPC informs the public about the impact of gun violence on their daily lives, exposes the profit-driven marketing and lobbying activities of the firearms industry and gun lobby, offers unique technical expertise to policymakers, organizations, and advocates on the federal, state, and local levels, and works for policy changes that save lives. The VPC has a long and proven record of policy successes on the federal, state, and local levels, leading the National Rifle Association to acknowledge us as "the most effective ... anti-gun rabble-rouser in Washington."
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"This incredible victory for labor will transform Tennessee and the South!"
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However, Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-52) celebrated the win.
"Watching history tonight in Chattanooga, as Volkswagen workers voted in a landslide to join the UAW," he wrote on social media Friday night. "Despite pressure from Gov. Lee, this is the first auto plant in the South to unionize since the 1940s. This incredible victory for labor will transform Tennessee and the South!"
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Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, said the win "shows what we already know—workers in every part of this country want the freedom to join a union, and when we stand together, we have tremendous power. Even though the deck is stacked against us, momentum is on our side, and we're winning."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said: "This is a huge victory not only for UAW workers at Volkswagen, but for every worker in America. The tide is turning. Workers all across the country, even in our most conservative states, are sick and tired of corporate greed and are demanding economic justice."
"I think it's a great push for the entire South, and people will follow suit."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called the results "an utterly historic victory for the working class."
"Tennessee is shining bright tonight," she wrote on social media Friday. "We are in a new era. Congratulations to the courageous workers in Chattanooga and the entire UAW. Absolutely heroic. Solidarity IS the strategy—across the South, and all over the country."
More Perfect Union said the victory would "change the auto industry, and the future of American labor," and the campaign organizers themselves are aware of the importance of what they've accomplished.
"We understand that the world's watching us," worker Isaac Meadows, who has been at the plant for one year, told More Perfect Union. "You know there's a labor movement in this country, you know, we're poised to be the first domino of many to fall."
Worker Kelcey Smith, who has also been at the plant for one year, added, "I think it's a great push for the entire South, and people will follow suit."
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"The real fight begins now," Fain told cheering workers. "The real fight is getting your fair share. The real fight is the fight to get more time with your families. The real fight is the fight for our union contract."
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