firearms industry messaging fuels our epidemic of gun violence

Like Parkland and Sandy Hook, this latest school shooting in Uvalde left distraught parents, teachers, community members and the nation grasping to make sense of a senseless attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

So far, the number of mass shootings, including the May 14 attack in Buffalo, N.Y., suggests the nation is on track to have another deadly year.

There are many likely causes for the rise in gun violence in the U.S., including racism, easy access to guns, mental health issues and other factors. However, we can no longer afford to ignore the role the U.S. and global firearms industry plays in perpetuating this public health epidemic.

As public health practitioners, we study how the private sector promotes products and choices that are harmful to health, known as “commercial determinants of health.” Just as the pandemic exposed how systemic racism, poverty and other social determinants impact the health outcomes of individuals and communities, it also exposed the role of the global firearms industry as a commercial determinant of health.

For decades, the firearms industry has worked to minimize the truth about firearm violence through highly effective marketing and lobbying. (These are the same tactics used by the alcohol and tobacco industries to direct focus away from the diseases caused by their products.) For the past 30 years, the National Rifle Association — which will hold its annual meeting this weekend less than 280 miles from the town of Uvalde — has alone spent a sizable portion of its budget (now $300 million) on limiting gun legislation.

At the same time, guns have become more lethal due to competition within the firearms market, and gun producers and distributors play a major role in making these increasingly lethal weapons easier to access and own.

During the pandemic, we saw the firearms industrial machinery in full swing. Gun shops lobbied state governments to be designated as “essential businesses” in order to remain open, while gun advocacy groups peddled panic and fear, arguing that people must be able to protect themselves during these uncertain times. As a result of all these tactics, gun sales skyrocketed.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/insidious-firearms-industry-messaging-fuels-our-epidemic-of-gun-violence/ar-AAXPwWx?li=BBnb7Kz