Gun Control Groups Push FTC to Equate Gun and Tobacco Advertisements

A number of gun control groups have banded together and are asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate gun advertisements like tobacco advertisements.

The New York Times’ Dealbook Newsletter reports that Gabby Giffords’ gun control group, March for Our Lives, the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, and other gun control groups “are petitioning the Federal Trade Commission [on April 7, 2022] to investigate and regulate the firearms industry as it has with tobacco, alleging that gun manufacturers use deceptive advertising practices.”

NYC’s Dealbook describes the targeting of gun advertisements as “the latest salvo aimed at the marketing tactics of an industry that has largely been protected from liability for the harms of its products because of federal laws.”

National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Larry Keane responded to gun controllers’ attempt to treat Smith & Wesson like Philip Morris by tweeting, “Antigun groups have a problem w/ the 1st and 2d Amendments[.] Commercial speech is protected speech[.] This is old antigun play run unsuccessfully in 80s and 90s.”

NYC’s Dealbook notes that the gun control groups criticized firearm advertisements by claiming, “Americans have been falsely led to believe that gun ownership is a safe way to protect their home and family.”

On February 19, 2015, Breitbart News noted that Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck reaffirmed his scholarly findings that show at least 760,000 defensive gun uses (DGUs) in America each year.

Kleck’s work on DGUs entered into the public dialogue in 1993 with the publication of the National Self-Defense Survey (NSDS). He conducted this survey with his colleague Marc Gertz, finding a minimum of 760,000 DGUs annually. His numbers have yet to be refuted with empirical evidence.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.