Here's How the Rifle That Just Killed a 2-Year-Old Girl Is Marketed for Kids

[Coyotl]

http://m.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/crickett-rifle-marketing-kids

...

The Pennsylvania-based maker of Crickett rifles, Keystone Sporting Arms, markets its guns with the slogan "My First Rifle." They are available with different barrel and stock designs, including some made in hot pink to appeal to young girls.

Business has boomed since the company's inception in 1996, according to its website. In its first year, it had four employees and produced 4,000 rifles for kids; by 2008 it had greatly expanded its operations, with 70 employees and an output of 60,000 rifles a year. KSA's site states that its goal is "to instill gun safety in the minds of youth shooters and encourage them to gain the knowledge and respect that hunting and shooting activities require and deserve."

But a visit to the "kids corner" page reveals a gallery of photos that some people might find unsettling: ...

[Jenoch]

1. It appears to me that the kids in

those photos are all supervised.

[Coyotl]

2. I'm sure their lawyers made certain of that!

But they are still in for a world of hurt when the lawsuits hit.

[premium]

23. What lawsuits? nt.

[Progressive dog]

28. Yup, the photographer was right there behind the camera

and you can see the guns aren't loaded.

[GeorgeGist]

53. You must be hallucinating.

There's are no adults in most of the pics.

[Jenoch]

55. Do you believe the photographs were all taken by children?

[KittyWampus]

3. Where's the outrage for ATV manufacturers marketing their vehicles to kids? ATV's kill & maim

a significant number of children every year.

Where's the outrage for marketing ANYTHING to kids?

[Whisp]

12. you forgot your sarcasm thingie...

[uponit7771]

19. ATVs were designed to do so? regards

[MattBaggins]

22. Warning Will Robinson. Misdirection attempt incoming.

[Uzair]

31. DO NOT TALK ABOUT GUNS

Talk about everything else. Just not guns.

[BlueStreak]

4. There is a special place in Hell for these people.

[galileoreloaded]

5. yes! right behind bucket manufacturers! nt

[EOTE]

33. Thinking. I don't think you're doing it right. nt

[galileoreloaded]

35. wait your right. its the 2 inches of water and NOT the bucket that is deadly

but who can we punish?

its got my dumb basic brain all confuzelled

[EOTE]

37. Nope, you still haven't got it quite right.

Guns are designed SOLELY to kill things. Kids should NOT have something that could kill themselves or others so easily and we're seeing it every... single... day. If you give a 5 year old a gun, you're a fucking moron, that's all there is to it. Get that simple fact through your "basic brain" and then you'll be getting somewhere. After that, you can move on to tougher things like capitalization and using the correct form of 'your'.

[galileoreloaded]

43. i'm lazy and non reactionary...what can i say. nt

[Eleanors38]

7. Probably not, but you can send them to the other...what, five (5) threads...on this.

[holdencaufield]

6. Makes me nostalgic

My favourite old-timey Hannukah advert

[BlueStreak]

38. Those were the days

[LanternWaste]

45. Rather the diverse family.... representing all of import from the "good old days"

Rather the diverse family.... representing all of importance from the "good old days"

[The Straight Story]

8. So 60,000 plus kids have guns and aren't shooting each other with them?

And that was just in one year.

Like anything else with kids (household chemicals, pools, etc) it is not the product, it's the parents who didn't supervise.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. So it's not about the gun, it's about the supervision? Got it.

Quick question.....why does the United States have a much higher gun death rate than other industrialized countries like South Korea, Germany, Japan and Australia? Just curious what your take is on that.

[Mojorabbit]

10. Over half of them are suicides

My thought is those other countries may have better safety nets than we do. There are so many people who need some assistance out there. They shut down the suicide hotline where I live.

[Cali_Democrat]

11. Even if you remove suicides the equation, which shouldn't be done....

The gun death rate is still much higher in the US, especially when looking at murders where firearms are used.

Why is that?

[Mojorabbit]

13. Once again

safety net IMO. We have gangs where early intervention may have made a difference, we have domestic violence where intervention may have made a difference re counseling, and then we have the purely criminal element
(I got this from a govt site... In 1993, the FBI's Crime in the United
States estimated that almost 2 million
violent crimes of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault were reported to the police by citizens. About
582,000 of these reported murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults were committed with firearms. )
I am guessing there may not be a lot we are able to do with some of these criminals but maybe a percentage of the 2 million
more or less who do these sorts of things might have benefited from some sort of intervention.
Do you think it may make a difference?

[Cali_Democrat]

14. I agree that the safety net plays a part

But I also think the accessibility of firearms plays a part.

[TreasonousBastard]

18. This is true-- guns are certainly part of the problem, but...

the greater problem is the violence we seem to accept in our society.

We complain mightily about it, but resist most attempts to do anything about it.

[DanTex]

34. Overall violent crime in the US is not higher than in Western Europe, Canada, etc.

Just homicide.

How does the "safety net" theory explain that?

[mwrguy]

16. To be fair, Japan has an incredibly high suicide rate.

Lots of jumping from building or in front of trains, and lots of taking poison or overdosing.

[gejohnston]

51. they also have

cold cases written off as suicides, and the "murder" part of murder/suicides being classified as suicides.

[baldguy]

25. It's never about the gun.

Ever.

[krispos42]

39. Probably for the same reason Minnesota has more snowmobile deaths than Florida

And Florida has more shark attack victims than Minnesota.

The more common something is, the more commonly used it is.

[MrModerate]

15. Guns are created to kill. That's what they're for . . .

The same can't be said of household chemicals and swimming pools.

And guns are not created to punch holes in paper targets. Sport shooting is no more than training in how to kill with your gun (and how to avoid killing accidentally in those intervals between killing intentionally).

[Uzair]

29. Do you even care that a 2 year old is dead?

Is your love of guns that great? You are basically saying that this one child's life is the price for your fetish. What, do you think this mother WANTED this to happen?

Do you think everybody is a fucking robot, and that mistakes can't happen? Do you think it can NEVER HAPPEN TO YOU, because you're perfect and incapable of ever being tired, or distracted, or busy, or just having a bad day?

Kids get into household chemicals all the time too. Kids drown in pools all the time too. Nobody wants this shit to happen. But you guys? You gun lovers? You can't get it through your thick skulls that simply not allowing children to have guns would save about 500 lives a year, or you just DON'T CARE.

Go ahead. Make the false analogy about pools and household chemicals. Talk about how you think I'm saying we ought to ban pools and bug spray too. See, I already know what you're going to say, and it's all going to be the same old tired bullshit. Change the subject, don't talk about the guns.

It's OK to give children guns because 60000 of them are properly supervised. The 1 that shoots his sister, though? That's the price of "freedom". Got it.

[The Straight Story]

49. I don't own a gun, so no fetish here. I argue based on simple principle, no emotions

And there you go: See, I already know what you're going to say, and it's all going to be the same old tired bullshit. Change the subject, don't talk about the guns.

You see it as the subject changing, but the subject is the same the only thing that changes is the item.

If you want to apply ONE solution to all of those problems it is simple - the parents are responsible to watch their kids and keep things like accidents from happening.

Again, millions of kids live in homes with guns, very few are injured/killed by them. Since so many are not ---- where do you think the problem REALLY lies?

Ans do YOU really care about the kids, or just using a tragic story to push an agenda for your emotional hatred of guns and desire to control the lives of others?

[otohara]

17. They Look Like Toys

they recall teddy bears with lose eyes, yet it's okay to sell guns for kids.

Someone not familiar with these deadly toys might think it's a toy and bang...another dead person in America

[freshwest]

20. We will be living with this for generations. What or who will they be aiming at?

No wonder Ted Nugent sneered at the mention of the children of Newtown at the SOTU. He must consider them as target practice because they weren't brought up this way. Nothing but 'game in season.'

And when LePierre says more guns are the answer and when conservatives say that everyone should have been armed, this is exactly what they mean.

They want government replaced by tribalism and warlords in charge of our daily lives. Oh, it won't be that dramatic, not quite like a movie or news reel. But it will effect those around them in a game of intimidation and give and take. People will stop speaking sanity and they will rule more public places. Folks will know not to mess with them, no matter what.

'Might makes right' is what they intend for us all. That will translate to economic power. It's been in increments but it's impossible to miss what's happening. We are flooded with weaponry, RW religious dogma and an aggressive, shoot first gun culture. It's legal, it's called SYG.

In the meantime Democrats fight among themselves over whatever the RW owned media sends their way. Will we unify against what they are doing or will they get their way while we fuss over trifles one wonders. If so, we are truly as weak as they claim we are.

[Coyotl]

21. We have been living with this for a long time, it is just getting worse.

Guns conquered the Americas and genocidally exterminated the Native American Nations. It is part of American heritage and how the USA came into existence.

[metalbot]

24. Except that it isn't getting worse

The murder rate is down, violent crime with guns is down, gun ownership is down, and guns are more heavily regulated today than at any time in our nation's history. Fifty years ago, in some communities it wasn't unusual for kids to bring their guns to school for various projects, and you could order guns from a catalog and have them mailed directly to you. Until about 30 years ago, anybody could pay $200 for a tax stamp and buy a machine gun.

Mass shootings are certainly getting worse, but they account for a tiny fraction of the gun violence in America, and crafting policy around the exception rather than the rule seems insane. If anything, the mass shootings are more indicative of our failure as a society to craft meaningful mental health policy that might stop people from waking up and thinking "I'm going to go kill some kids today".

[Coyotl]

26. Columbine, ......... .... ... ... n/t

[Hoyt]

30. We don't know how low murder/wound/intimidation/abuse rate would be without all the friggin guns, or

yahoos they embolden.

Wish people would quit perpetuating the gun culture mentality.

[DanTex]

36. Gun violence has been getting worse.

There are more gunshot wounds per capita than ten years ago. But survival rates have increased, which explains why gun homicides have decreased slightly over the same period.

[krispos42]

40. I think that's incorrect

All crime indicators are down, including all violent crime indicators.





If survival rates were solely or largely responsible for gun-related deaths dropping, we would see assault rates stay steady or even rise slightly. After all, if I shoot somebody and they live, it's assault; if I shoot somebody and they die it's murder.


I think I wrote in reply to you before that I believed it was a combination of removing lead in gasoline and the ready availability of birth control and abortion services that lead to the sharp drop in crime rates that started in the 1990's.

[DanTex]

41. I said gun violence specifically. Gun assaults are up:

CDC data:

Rates of firearm assault injuries have increased over the 2000s

Year Number of
injuries Population Crude
Rate Age-Adjusted
Rate**
2001 41,044 284,968,955 14.40 14.11
2002 37,321 287,625,193 12.98 12.75
2003 42,505 290,107,933 14.65 14.40
2004 43,592 292,805,298 14.89 14.72
2005 50,320 295,516,599 17.03 16.92
2006 52,748 298,379,912 17.68 17.45
2007 48,676* 301,231,207 16.16 16.09
2008 56,626 304,093,966 18.62 18.57
2009 44,466 306,771,529 14.49 14.50
2010 53,738 308,745,538 17.41 17.55
2011 55,544 311,591,917 17.83 17.85

Rates of firearm homicide have declined slightly.

Year Number of
Deaths Population*** Crude
Rate Age-Adjusted
Rate**
2001 11,348 284,968,955 3.98 3.93
2002 11,829 287,625,193 4.11 4.07
2003 11,920 290,107,933 4.11 4.07
2004 11,624 292,805,298 3.97 3.94
2005 12,352 295,516,599 4.18 4.17
2006 12,791 298,379,912 4.29 4.27
2007 12,632 301,231,207 4.19 4.20
2008 12,179 304,093,966 4.01 4.03
2009 11,493 306,771,529 3.75 3.78
2010 11,078 308,745,538 3.59 3.62

It is true that crime has been dropping across the board, but gun crime specifically has lagged behind for the last decade.

[krispos42]

48. Ah, okay, I see what you mean.

Thanks.

[freshwest]

44. I'm aware of the history. This is no longer needed to establish the country. To destroy it, next.

[Shankapotomus]

27. How can violent video games be the problem

when handing your child a gun is not?

Giving children violent video games is a cause of gun violence and must be regulated but giving them a real gun is not?

Many seem to be unconscious this is their argument.

[nykym]

32. If they are marketing the gun to children

Last edited Fri May 3, 2013, 01:38 PM - Edit history (1)

then they would need to pass CPSIA standards.
For the life of me I cannot understand why bullets which contain lead are exempt?
Let alone the implied destructive force of the rife.
They probably get around it by marketing to kids over 12.

Did some checking, found out that guns and ammo are regulated by the ATF.
Most shops will not sell to anyone under 16 years of age.

SO why is it they can get away with calling it a toy?

[gejohnston]

52. how can they say it is "marketing to children" since they can't buy it?

Because kids can't buy ammunition, in the US. The lowest age is 18. Canada on the other hand, allows 12 year olds to buy ammo.

[IveWornAHundredPants]

54. Clearly you don't have kids.

They buy it like they buy anything else: ceaseless badgering.

[backscatter712]

42. Coming up next: kid-marketed power tools!

Hey little Johnny, let's play with the table saw!

[Bake]

46. I wouldn't give a 4 or 5 year old a damn BB or paintball gun ("you'll put your eye out!")

Much less a deadly weapon. A teenager, maybe, but sure as hell not a 4/5 year old!

Bake

[Coyotl]

47. As kids we were not allowed to have a BB gun because they were too dangerous.

But we had .22 rifles to hunt for food.

[Bake]

50. I grew up in the city, never was a hunter as a child.

I'm okay with teaching older children to hunt (supervised!!), but not at 4 or 5.



Bake