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The gun industry sells an image of masculinity and rugged individualism. The NRA is part of this image, and arguably is the greatest public relations strategy i

The gun industry sells an image of masculinity and rugged individualism. The NRA is part of this image, and arguably is the greatest public relations strategy in the history of Western consumerism. Unlike say blue jeans commercials where manly men hang out on their pickup trucks which most people realize is purely for marketing, people really think the NRA and associated marketing is real. All the purchase of a firearm represents is a very slight decrease in the probability that you and the civilians around you will survive tomorrow. Widespread availability of firearms also enables and promotes the terrorism we regularly see carried out in the US, but of course the probability of being personally victimized by terrorism is exceedingly low. So no, gun owners and gun industry interests are not "aligned". Gun industry makes enormous profit on the sale of its image. Gun owners get the benefit of believing they are rugged individuals protecting liberty, at the cost of a couple hundred/thousand bucks and living in a modestly more dangerous society.

hga 13y ago
http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=717&category=Pistol http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=717&cate... http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_795547_-1_757786_757784_757784_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Produc... But most people just use Duracoat: http://www.lauerweaponry.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=1052 http://www.lauerweaponry.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.d... As in the famous, and very real and functioning California legal Hello Kitty AR-15: https://www.google.com/search?q=hello+kitty+ar-15&tbm=isch&biw=1166&bih=711&sei=zOeHUaObE-Lh4AOv4YDwDA https://www.google.com/search?q=hello+kitty+ar-15&tbm=is... Or see this curated list: http://www.kittyhell.com/category/hello-kitty-guns/ http://www.kittyhell.com/category/hello-kitty-guns/ To my eyes, most of these guns look to be real. If your mind isn't completely closed, you might take a gander at: http://women.nra.org/ http://women.nra.org/ As for your more general point, since the members of the NRA don't agree with your positions on the consequences of an armed polity, we are indeed very much in alignment with the firearms industry. Granted, we might be wrong, but you can't blithely substitute your opinion for the opinions of NRA members and then legitimately come to your overall opinion. Ah, it also goes without saying that we don't believe in the concept of false consciousness. We don't think anything is wrong with Kansas (especially now that it's under conservative state government for the first time ever and going even more pro-gun).
- reader5000 13y ago
  Gun corporations exploit dim bulbs for profit. It's the harsh truth, friend.
  - hga 13y ago
    So the million plus citizens of the US who use guns in 2.5 million legitimate self-defense incidents per year are "dim bulbs"? While you're taking a utilitarian vs. moral approach to this, its reminiscent of this definition which continues the theme of my last reply: "Gun Control: the theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound." Or in mirror this variant I like on an old saying, "God created men and women, and Samuel Colt made them equal." And it should go without saying that no friend of mine would call me a "dim bulb." Patronizing, I'd say, which continues the theme, per Wiktionary, the etymology is: "Old English patron (reborrowed from Latin patronus, derived from Latin pater (“father”)) +‎ -ize (“(verb ending)”)."
    - reader5000 13y ago
      The Kleck number of 2.5m is based on a phone survey of 5000 Americans from 1992. In other words, it has no scientific value. Haha, strangled with her own panty hose huh? Listen, I don't know what gun people get off to, but alley-way rape occurs about as frequently as mass shootings. Almost all sexual assaults are perpetrated by known acquaintances of the victim. Adding a gun to the mix is only going to make things worse. And you are being a bit disingenuous. The overwhelming majority of gun owners are males. It is 100% an image thing, just like driving a big truck or getting a "badass" tattoo. All I'm saying is, if you don't think corporations are above profiting hugely off of hysteria and fear, you've never watched the nightly news.
      - hga 13y ago
        If phone surveys are "of no scientific value", you ought to tell the Department of Justice they're wasting taxpayer money: http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245 http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245 According to Wikipedia according to the Department of Justice, 26% of rapes are by strangers, which doesn't fit my definition of the inverse of "almost all". And while most guns may be technically owned by men, that hardly matters if they're available for the women in the household to use in self-defense. And again with the profit; can you not understand that the vast majority of us just don't give a damn that the firearms industry makes a healthy profit? This is an argument that has weight with gun grabbers, not gun owners.

hga 13y ago

http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=717&category=Pistol http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=717&cate... http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_795547_-1_757786_757784_757784_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Produc... But most people just use Duracoat: http://www.lauerweaponry.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=1052 http://www.lauerweaponry.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.d... As in the famous, and very real and functioning California legal Hello Kitty AR-15: https://www.google.com/search?q=hello+kitty+ar-15&tbm=isch&biw=1166&bih=711&sei=zOeHUaObE-Lh4AOv4YDwDA https://www.google.com/search?q=hello+kitty+ar-15&tbm=is... Or see this curated list: http://www.kittyhell.com/category/hello-kitty-guns/ http://www.kittyhell.com/category/hello-kitty-guns/ To my eyes, most of these guns look to be real. If your mind isn't completely closed, you might take a gander at: http://women.nra.org/ http://women.nra.org/ As for your more general point, since the members of the NRA don't agree with your positions on the consequences of an armed polity, we are indeed very much in alignment with the firearms industry. Granted, we might be wrong, but you can't blithely substitute your opinion for the opinions of NRA members and then legitimately come to your overall opinion. Ah, it also goes without saying that we don't believe in the concept of false consciousness. We don't think anything is wrong with Kansas (especially now that it's under conservative state government for the first time ever and going even more pro-gun).

reader5000 13y ago
Gun corporations exploit dim bulbs for profit. It's the harsh truth, friend.
- hga 13y ago
  So the million plus citizens of the US who use guns in 2.5 million legitimate self-defense incidents per year are "dim bulbs"? While you're taking a utilitarian vs. moral approach to this, its reminiscent of this definition which continues the theme of my last reply: "Gun Control: the theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound." Or in mirror this variant I like on an old saying, "God created men and women, and Samuel Colt made them equal." And it should go without saying that no friend of mine would call me a "dim bulb." Patronizing, I'd say, which continues the theme, per Wiktionary, the etymology is: "Old English patron (reborrowed from Latin patronus, derived from Latin pater (“father”)) +‎ -ize (“(verb ending)”)."
  - reader5000 13y ago
    The Kleck number of 2.5m is based on a phone survey of 5000 Americans from 1992. In other words, it has no scientific value. Haha, strangled with her own panty hose huh? Listen, I don't know what gun people get off to, but alley-way rape occurs about as frequently as mass shootings. Almost all sexual assaults are perpetrated by known acquaintances of the victim. Adding a gun to the mix is only going to make things worse. And you are being a bit disingenuous. The overwhelming majority of gun owners are males. It is 100% an image thing, just like driving a big truck or getting a "badass" tattoo. All I'm saying is, if you don't think corporations are above profiting hugely off of hysteria and fear, you've never watched the nightly news.
    - hga 13y ago
      If phone surveys are "of no scientific value", you ought to tell the Department of Justice they're wasting taxpayer money: http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245 http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245 According to Wikipedia according to the Department of Justice, 26% of rapes are by strangers, which doesn't fit my definition of the inverse of "almost all". And while most guns may be technically owned by men, that hardly matters if they're available for the women in the household to use in self-defense. And again with the profit; can you not understand that the vast majority of us just don't give a damn that the firearms industry makes a healthy profit? This is an argument that has weight with gun grabbers, not gun owners.