How the Gun Industry Preys on Paranoid, Insecure Men Like Elliot Rodger

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/how-gun-industry-preys-paranoid-insecure-men-elliot-rodger



The gun industry has a problem. Despite the United States having a reputation for being a “gun-loving” country, interest in gun ownership is actually declining, fairly dramatically in fact. Nearly half of American households had a gun in the '70s, but since then it’s sloped downward. Now only 34 percent of American households own a gun. Demographic changes are a huge factor, with younger Americans showing very little interest in gun ownership. Only 23 percent of people under 30 live in households with a gun, down from 47 percent in the 1970s. How does the gun industry keep selling guns and making money when the customer base for guns appears to be rapidly shrinking?

It seems the industry has figured out an ingenious solution to the problem: Convince people who are interested in guns to buy more guns. Indeed, having a bunch of highly invested repeat customers might make for an even more profitable strategy than simply trying to get a gun into every household. Convincing the small number of gun lovers in the United States to create individual arsenals has kept gun sales numbers high. The result is that gun ownership is becoming a highly concentrated activity. Nearly half of gun owners own four or more guns. Twenty percent of gun owners—around 7 percent of Americans overall— own a whopping 65 percent of the guns in this country.

The gun industry has clearly figured out how to make a lot of money convincing a small number of Americans to own a whole bunch of guns. Unfortunately, the result is a subculture of gun fanatics whose combination of masculine insecurities, paranoia and hostility to their fellow Americans make them quite possibly the people you least want to be around, armed and dangerous. Sadly, the most recent mass shooting in California that left 6 people murdered is all too good an example of this, as the shooter, Elliot Rodger, was quite open about his masculine insecurities and power fantasies.

The gun industry, through its direct marketing and through industry front organizations like the NRA, has settled on a marketing scheme they’ll never openly admit to but which is completely evident in their press releases, advertisements and other marketing materials. They target men who have high levels of insecurity when it comes to issues of masculinity and power, and suggest that buying guns will make them feel powerful and manly and chase those insecurities away.

[Rhinodawg]

1. " What ??....Those women won't have sex with you ???.....

here, buy this gun....and 400 rounds , STUD".

insane

[armed_and_liberal]

11. My 3 guns never got me noticed..

But a tight pair of lyrca cycling shorts while riding one of my 7 bicycles almost always got me a second glance. Better to pack meat than heat!

[Hoyt]

2. Ms. Marcotte is going to make some gun fanciers berry mad. Hope

Last edited Tue May 27, 2014, 09:41 AM - Edit history (1)

Hope they don't treat her like MOM in wheelchair.

[baldguy]

3. All the while gun worshipers say it's not about their insecurities...

[greatlaurel]

14. That ad is what needs to get out to the American public.

Then people will know what that it is not about "freedom", but profit for the gun manufacturers.

[secondvariety]

4. Yep.

Every gun nut I know has an arsenal and they all love to brag about it like they're comparing peckers. It's actually pretty pathetic for middle aged men to act like that.

[Slip_n_Slide]

6. Do you say the same thing...

... to gear heads, outdoor enthusiasts or anyone else who has a hobby that has "the latest and greatest" gear?

[drynberg]

8. DIFFERENCE: ALL SPORTS DON'T LEAVE A LONG TRAIL OF BLOOD AND DEATH!

[Slip_n_Slide]

9. I would guess that neither do those middle aged men that you are so quick to look down your nose at

Have any of the "gun nuts you know" actually killed anyone in an illegal or unethical manner?

Are you judging them on what they might do in the future because they are equipped?

Are you holding them up as criminals based on the actions of others?

Do you treat every male as a rapist based on the fact that he has the necessary equipment and other men in the world have raped?

What is the difference?

[klook]

12. Are camera murders on the rise?

Musical instrument mayhem? Riding lawn mower mass killings?

Maybe I missed those news reports.

[hunter]

34. Hard to kill anyone with a modern camera...

... but damn, those heavy all metal 35mm cameras of the 'fifties and 'sixties, you surely could.

.

.

.

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Yes, this is to annoy the guns don't kill people, people kill people chorus.

[arcane1]

28. Sounds like someone hit a nerve n/t

[secondvariety]

15. When they

start with the "I got a 40:2 rear end with a dual pumper carb and a triple hoopdedo manifold blah blah blah" I'm like STFU. The testosterone challenged geezers (I'm actually older than them) are either bragging about their guns or their cars SOMEBODY ELSE built for them.

I DO have a couple of buddies who are the real deal. One (a little older than me) builds dragsters from the frame up. The other (a little younger than me) does beautiful customization of M1 Garands. Neither one brags about it or even brings it up unless asked.

[Slip_n_Slide]

21. I'm with you on that..

Last edited Tue May 27, 2014, 11:10 AM - Edit history (1)

Being braggadocious is not the same as being a mass killer with the blood of the world on your hands. It just makes you a social ass.

Where I get off is the point where we lump an entire group of people, gun owners, and judge them with hyperbolic bullshit like 'trails of blood and tears'.

They get judged not on their actions but on the criminal actions of an infinitesimally small minority.

Double hypocrisy points for that specific crime but not for any others. Rape, robbery, assault, white collar crime...

All of that is the fault of the individual criminal but bring a gun into the conversation and you can hear the brains clicking off.

[alp227]

36. And who's judging all gun owners as killers?

The problem is that lots of gun owners feel threatened by gun control measures - even though the control isn't about THEM, it's about those like Rodger who shouldn't have guns in the first place! There's a difference between gun owners and gun fetishists. Sadly, the irrational "OBAMA WANNA TAKEAWAY MAH GUNNNN" people have far too much of the gun dialogue in America.

[Sweet Freedom]

25. Do you think people

who are hobbyists would be opposed to or support gun regulation? Say for example, if you're a collector, then you can't buy 400 rounds of ammo, etc. I would hope that there are responsible owners out there who are appalled at those who have no respect for human life.

It actually would be nice if the enthusiasts and collectors took a middle ground and helped bridge the gap in the guns for everyone/no one argument.

[geek tragedy]

5. Hoo boy, this is a two-fer, and it's right.

The NRA and the MRA types here will not appreciate this.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. It certainly is an invitation for the garbage to smell its worst

[GoldenMezzoDiva]

7. Marketing is similar to so-called penis enlargement devices.

Guaranteed to make a real bush whacker outta yooo! And as we cry our hearts out they remain dry-eyed as they re-order. And re- load.

[Paladin]

10. K&R.

[greatlaurel]

16. Great post!

Thanks for posting this article. It is just another version of the Shock Doctrine, privatizing profits while putting all the costs on the public.

[Sunlei]

17. The gun industry doesn't want to lose any sales. hoarders, collectors and stockpilers they love.

[aikoaiko]

18. So they market guns to men the way they market nearly everything else to men.

Stunning analysis from anti-gun fear mongers.

[Hoyt]

29. Not really. Never saw a car or clothes ad that preys on gunners' fear of the boogeyman and such.

You gotta be a certain kind of individual to fall for this:

[aikoaiko]

31. Maybe not, but they tap into other male insecurities all the time.

[Hoyt]

32. Do we really want a bunch of "insecure" males running around with guns?

[aikoaiko]

33. I don't care what their feelings are as long as they remain on the right side of the law.

[alp227]

44. Technically, yes.

But gun companies take such marketing to the extreme.

[hack89]

19. My wife and daughter got a laugh out of this

with all the other women shooters at the range.

[LeftinOH]

20. Remember George Sodini (massacred women in 2009)?

His "motivation" for going on a shooting spree and targeting women was identical to Eliot Rodger's. There is a definite pattern - And there seem to be lots of "men" who are a rampage-in-waiting.

[customerserviceguy]

22. And with the news media

all too willing to publish the public suicide notes they now call manifestos, I expect that a lot of those "men" may find acting on their narcissistic homicidal urges just a little bit harder to resist.

[IronLionZion]

24. I hadn't heard of that one

So I googled it. There are a lot of similarities, just add 20 or more years to everyone's age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Collier_Township_shooting

[NightWatcher]

23. Since the mid 1990's it's been "The Dems are coming to take your guns"

The NRA used the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 to show that the democrats are coming to take your guns so you had better stockpile them. During the ban, gun shows were active selling 'pre-ban' weapons and parts with magazines and clips skyrocketing in cost and popularity. By 2004 when the ban expired, the avid collectors (we'll call them) started grabbing up all the new weapons and accessories. Since 2004, the popularity and availability of the "scary black gun" or assault rifle modeled to the AR15 has gone throw the roof. Handgun collection has gone along with the stockpile mentality of the assault rifle.

Recently there have been shortages and rumors of shortages of guns and more importantly ammunition. So now many of these hoarding gun humpers who had many rifles and handguns have now been trying to secure thousands of rounds.

So the fear from the NRA has made sure that when someone does snap, they've access to lots of guns in the homes of gun collectors as well as possibly thousands of rounds of ammo.

[bemildred]

26. Well, let's face it, there just isn't that much you can do with a gun.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
.
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.
.

[xchrom]

27. !

[alp227]

45. This is all relevant how?

And regarding state gun laws, had Rodger been committed by a judge, he would have been legally denied a gun. I would say the justice system, not gun laws, failed. Local authorities had their chance to get a search warrant and foil Rodger's plot. Rodger was also in treatment.

[beevul]

46. The OP title says...

The OP title says "How the Gun Industry Preys on Paranoid, Insecure Men Like Elliot Rodger".

He had no experience with guns, until he decided to murder people, and decided on a gun to do so with. In my view, that negates the entire premise where he is concerned.


"I would say the justice system, not gun laws, failed."


Then this tragedy shouldn't be used to push for more gun laws, right?

[alp227]

47. So even if Rodger didn't care about gun ads,

do you not deny that the overall thesis of the Alternet article about the tone of gun ads is still reality?

And regarding your last question, I can only hope the local authorities take a long hard look at themselves and take action to prevent another case like this.

[LiberalEsto]

40. For some men, guns are penis substitutes. nt

[Skittles]

42. careful!

they can take all the dead bodies but they get VERY upset over the penis analogies

[BrotherIvan]

48. ^^This!^^

[Jenoch]

49. Imagine that, selling more products to current customers?

I cannot think of any industries or areas of business that don't do the same thing.