Anti-Gun Violence Policy Center Targets SHOT Show Exhibitor, Bushmaster Owner

On January 13–the eve of SHOT Show 2014–Violence  Policy Center (VPC) released a paper targeting the marketing techniques Freedom Group, a SHOT Show exhibitor, uses for the gun companies they own.

Freedom Group holds and markets Bushmaster, Remington, DPMS/Panther Arms, Advanced Armament Corp., and Marlin, among others. 

VPC says Freedom Group uses “militarized marketing” to sell their firearms–including pump shotguns. 

For example, VPC says Freedom Group sells Bushmaster AR-15s by using the motto “Justice for All,” as well as phrases like “Control your Destiny” and “Bravery on Duty.” They also point out that that the Remington 870 pump shotgun–one of the most popular shotguns ever made–is marketed with words like “tactical” and with phrases such as, “[when] every second counts.”

VPC claims that Freedom Group uses this kind of marketing to appeal to “males who already own firearms” and “young males” who don’t but are “intrigued” by the “tactical coolness factor.” They then remind their audience that Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster AR-15 in committing his heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary. 

What VPC doesn’t say is that Lanza stole that Bushmaster.

What they also don’t say is that many Freedom Group firearms are marketed with a law enforcement angle because many of them–like the Bushmaster AR-15 and the Remington 870 pump shotgun–are law enforcement staples. 

On January 9th Breitbart News reported that Forsyth County, North Carolina, Sheriff William Schatzman had acquired 88 Bushmaster AR-15 rifles for “officers on the street.”

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.