Washington (May 18, 2022) — Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) led ten of his Senate colleagues in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging the agency to open an investigation into the marketing of lethal firearms, including assault rifles, to children. The letter sheds light on marketing aimed at children by gun dealer Wee1 Tactical, which sells the “JR-15”, an assault rifle modeled after the infamous AR-15. Wee1’s marketing to minors includes photos and videos of children on its website and Facebook page wielding the JR-15, as well as Wee1’s pacifier logo on top of a skull and crossbones. Lawmakers say these marketing tactics are dangerous and irresponsible, especially as the gun violence epidemic continues to soar, which was tragically highlighted last weekend with two mass shootings across the country. , one in Buffalo, New York, at the hands of an 18- year-old using an AR-15 style rifle.
“We are writing today to urge the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to use its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act to initiate an investigation into the marketing of highly lethal firearms, including rifles. ‘assault, with impressionable young people’, the lawmakers wrote in their letter to the FTC. “These are weapons of war that have no place in the hands of the children of our nation and can cause them significant harm and even death..”
A copy of the letter is available HERE.
Senators Jack Reed (DR.I.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (DN.J.), Ben Ray Luján (DN.M.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
###