Today's firearms marketing vision of the world

There's a brand-new book out by Philip Cook and Kristin Goss called The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know (2014). They describe here the market trends that persuaded the firearms industry to shift their marketing approach this way:

The fundamentals of the gun market have much to do with the decline of hunting. The traditional market for rifles and shotguns suitable for this activity has dwindled accordingly. The recent growth in unit sales to unparalleled heights reflects the success of the industry and pro-gun groups in reorienting from sports to self-defense and something more sinister — fear of social chaos and government tyranny. Self-defense has been extended from the home to public places by the sea change in state laws; most states have either deregulated concealed carrying in public, or placed only modest requirements on those wanting a permit. About half the states have adopted so-called stand-your-ground laws that further encourage a self-help mind-set. These laws have increased the demand for readily concealable pistols and suitable accessories.

Another important trend that has helped the gun makers is the growing subculture that rests on doomsday narratives of social disorder, invasion by the United Nations forces (to confiscate guns), and other beliefs that strike many people as far-fetched. The industry’s marketing efforts have exploited the image of well-armed private citizens serving as the bulwark of freedom.

And in the paranoid world view, Good Guys with guns "serving as the bulwark of freedom" doesn't mean joining the National Guard.

Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher expressed his vision this week as follows: "Guns are mostly for hunting down politicians who would actively seek to take your freedoms and liberty away from you." (Military Members Died Defending Our Rights ... 05/29/2014)

The current propaganda/marketing approach of the firearms lobby encourages just this kind of talk.

Here's the NRA's most visible face, Wayne LaPierre expressing his worldview as reported in this report from The Young Turks (includes some profanity), NRA's Wayne LaPierre Lists All The Fears You Should Have, Except... 08/28/2014, especially just after 4:15:

Here's the text of that part, from this Huffington Post report by Samantha Lachman, Wayne LaPierre Warns Fellow Gun Rights Supporters Of 'Knockout Gamers,' 'Haters' 04/25/2014:

We know, in the world that surrounds us, there are terrorists and home invaders and drug cartels and carjackers and knockout gamers and rapers [sic], haters, campus killers, airport killers, shopping mall killers, road-rage killers, and killers who scheme to destroy our country with massive storms of violence against our power grids, or vicious waves of chemicals or disease that could collapse the society that sustains us all. I ask you. Do you trust this government to protect you? We are on our own.

Tags: gun control, gun proliferation