The gun industry is a killer business that claims to sell you safety.
In reality, your safety is for sale.
Are You Good With That?
Find out how key industry players value profits over people.
Gun Industry Players
The GreedyGunmaker
Greedy Gunmakers
As gun violence soars, so do the profits of gunmakers. But rather than investing in lifesaving gun safety features, they pour funds into developing deadlier weapons that fire faster, hold more ammo, and are easier to shoot and conceal. All while hiding behind broad protections that shield them from accountability. Truly, their upside is our downfall.
The TrickyMarketer
Tricky Marketers
Gun marketers exploit violent tragedies to stoke fear and pitch guns as the only solution to the very problem they helped create. Dangerously deceptive advertising practices glorify assault weapons, appeal to young men’s inner Captain Price and even lure in kids with cartoonish imagery and video game tie-ins.
The RogueSeller
Rogue Sellers
The last link in the chain, gun dealers compound the problem by allowing guns to fall into the wrong hands. Shockingly, nearly a third of inspected dealers violate the law and rarely face consequences. Problematic sellers receive a steady stream of guns from manufacturers and then disavow their role in the gun violence they help create.
Are You Good With That?
If not, let’s hold the gun industry accountable.
Text Industry to 644-33
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- Everytown Research analysis of CDC, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2018–2022; Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) nonfatal firearm injury data, 2020; and SurveyUSA Market Research Study #26602, 2022. Last updated: 5.7.2024
- Studdert, D. M., Zhang, Y., Swanson, S. A., Prince, L., Rodden, J. A., Holsinger, E. E., & Wintemute, G. J. (2022). Homicide deaths among adult cohabitants of handgun owners in California, 2004 to 2016: A cohort study. Annals of Internal Medicine, 175(6), 804–811.
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National firearms commerce and trafficking assessment (NFCTA): Volume II, part III: Crime guns recovered and traced in the United States. U.S. Department of Justice.
The GreedyGunmaker
“I don’t care who does the shooting. My profits soar when bullets fly.”
| Destruction | |
| Indifference | |
| Manipulation | |
| Greed | |
| Accountability |
For gunmakers, big shootings mean big money. It’s like their “thoughts & prayers” are for more violence.
Gunmakers profit off of violence, instability and fear, lining their pockets by innovating towards danger. They keep producing guns that can kill dozens in seconds or that can be fired by a toddler because, at least according to them, they’re not responsible for the completely predictable uses and misuses of their products.
“Every time there’s a shooting somewhere, sales spike like crazy.”
- Former Glock Executive5
The Cost of Doing Business
Gun violence costs our country $557 billion every year.1
While we’re paying the price, the gun industry rakes in $9 billion annually.2 And Gunmakers still claim they don’t “have the means”3 to track deaths, injuries, or crimes that involve their weapons.
What other business cares so little about how its products are used and abused?
Twice as many people are killed when mass shootings involve an assault weapon.4
But instead of gunmakers acknowledging the mass shootings committed with assault weapons like AR-15s, they’ve doubled down on them – producing deadlier guns that fire faster and hold more rounds.
Who are they making weapons for?
Gun manufacturers mass produce guns that are prone to theft, illegal modification, and shootings by children.
It would be easy for gunmakers to make guns that can only be fired by the rightful owner, or that can’t be easily turned into machine guns, or that can’t be fired by a
Why don’t gunmakers make basic design changes to protect our lives?
The Safety is Off
Unlike other consumer businesses, gunmakers play by a special set of rules that allows them to avoid legal responsibility for the predictable harms caused by their guns – and lack the moral responsibility necessary to keep us safe.
It's a Killer Business
As gun violence soars, so do the profits of gunmakers. But rather than invest in gun safety, they pour funds into developing deadlier weapons. Our downfall is their upside.
Are You Good With That?
Here’s what gunmakers could do today:
Choose to stop making assault weapons
Police their supply chain and stop selling guns to dealers that break the law or sell too many crime guns.
Stop making and selling DIY kits that allow anyone to buy and build untraceable ghost guns.
Make safer guns, from low-tech solutions that prevent accidental discharges to high-tech smart guns that can only be used by authorized people.
Require gun dealers to disclose inspection results, and if their guns are recovered in crimes.
Microstamp their products to help law enforcement identify guns used in crimes faster.
Are You Good With That?
If not, let’s hold the gun industry accountable.
Text Industry to 644-33
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#KILLERBUSINESS
- Everytown Research. (2022). The economic cost of gun violence.
- Shahool Al Bari, Guns & Ammunition Manufacturing in the US, IBISWorld, December 2021, 19-20. Note: Civilian and law enforcement sales accounted for 46.9% of the gun industry’s total estimated revenue of $18.4 billion for 2021.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2019). Exhibit 99.1 [Form 8-K]. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/95029/000117494719000142/ex99-1.htm
- Everytown Research. (2023). Mass shootings in the United States.
- Taibbi, M. (2016). After Orlando: Examining the gun business. The New Yorker.
- Note: The character of Don is fictionalized and not intended to represent any specific person.
The TrickyMarketer
“Whatever your fears are, I’ll convince you guns are the solution.”
| Destruction | |
| Indifference | |
| Manipulation | |
| Greed | |
| Accountability |
Gun marketers prey on insecurities, pitching guns as the cure-all fix. But really, they’re just peddling a cycle of more violence.
Gun marketers use dangerously deceptive advertising practices to stoke fear and glorify armed conflict. They play up violent fantasies in order to sell you more guns, with no regard for the potentially deadly consequences.
“Consider Your Man Card Reissued”
- Real Bushmaster AR-15 Ad5
The Cost of Doing Business
Gun marketers use fear of violence to sell more guns, but Americans already own about 120 firearms per 100 people, the highest rate in the world.1
Americans are also 26x more likely to be killed by a gun than people in other high-income countries.2
Coincidence?
Gun industry marketing targets kids and teens using social media, video games, and promises that guns can give you purpose and valor.
There was a 50% increase in firearm deaths among children and teens between 2019 and 2021 alone.3 We don’t allow companies to market cigarettes or alcohol to kids.
Why is it OK to market guns to them?
Marketers claim guns keep people safe, but a gun in the home triples the risk of death by suicide.4
Tripling your odds might feel like a win in a casino, but it’s a different story when you’re gambling with your life.
Care to roll the dice?
Selling You Your Safety
Gun marketers advertise guns in increasingly deceptive and manipulative ways to make you think guns make us, and you, safer. But they don’t.
It's a Killer Business
Marketers cynically exploit gun violence tragedies to stoke fear, and then create fear-mongering ads to push more guns.
Are You Good With That?
Here’s what gun marketers could do today:
Stop marketing guns to children and teens, including via social media influencers.
Disclose when social media influencers are compensated with payment or products.
Stop working to get guns featured in movies, TV shows, and video games.
Stop promising that a gun is the path to manhood or meaning.
Stop marketing AR-15s and other assault weapons with military imagery and slogans.
Are You Good With That?
If not, let’s hold the gun industry accountable.
Text Industry to 644-33
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- Gilligan, C. (2023). How the U.S. compares to the world on guns. U.S. News & World Report.
- Erin Grinshteyn and David Hemenway. (2019). Violent Death Rates in the US Compared to Those of the Other High-Income Countries, 2015. Preventive Medicine 123, (2019): 20–26.
- Sandy Hook Promise. UnTargeting Kids: Protecting Children from Harmful Firearm Marketing.
- Anglemyer, A., Horvath, T., & Rutherford, G. (2014). The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine 160, no. 2 (2014): 101–10.
- McIntire, M., Thrush, G., & Lipton, E. (2022, June 22). Gun sellers’ message to Americans: Man up. The New York Times.
- Note: The character of Leslie is fictionalized and not intended to represent any specific person.
The RogueSeller
“Right hands? Wrong hands?
They’re all just customers to me.”
They’re all just customers to me.”
| Destruction | |
| Indifference | |
| Manipulation | |
| Greed | |
| Accountability |
The irresponsible practices of problematic gun sellers allow a steady stream of guns to flow into the hands of criminals.
Gun dealers are supposed to function as gatekeepers, running background checks and keeping accurate records – all so dangerous people aren’t able to buy guns.
Unfortunately, many do not.
“I am busy.
I don’t give a sh*t.”
- Gun Seller in Yakima, Washington, when asked about incomplete records.5
The Cost of Doing Business
A third of gun dealer inspections between 2010 and 2019 uncovered violations.1
That’s 35,500 dealers who broke the law. And most of them were allowed to remain in business. One was cited for 45 violations and still able to sell a shotgun to a man who would later kill four family members.
Where else can you get 45 slaps on the wrist?
Over 84,000 firearms were lost or stolen from gun dealers between 2016 and 2020.
Everyday, on average, 45 guns are lost or stolen from gun stores2, who fail to properly secure firearms both while open and after hours. These guns head straight to the criminal marketplace.
Do you still believe gun sellers care about safety?
Between 2017 and 2021, nearly 100,000 crime guns were unable to be traced by police because dealer records were simply missing.3
Shoddy record keeping is just part of the issue with rogue gun dealers. One gun shop sold more than 6,000 guns that were later recovered at crime scenes.4
Should that seller still be in business today?
A Few Really Bad Apples
Just 5% of dealers account for 90% of the hundreds of thousands of guns that are recovered in crimes every year.6
It's a Killer Business
We expect dealers to ensure that guns only end up in the right hands, but all too often, that’s not what happens. Many gun sellers are failing at their responsibility while our communities pay the price for their profits.
Are You Good With That?
Here’s what gun sellers could do today:
Refuse sales to buyers who are obviously buying guns for others, or who appear suspicious, intoxicated, or in distress.
Record all gun sales accurately and thoroughly.
Run background checks on all customers and employees.
Disclose when their guns are lost, stolen, or recovered in crimes.
Never transfer a firearm before a background check is complete.
Are You Good With That?
If not, let’s hold the gun industry accountable.
Text Industry to 644-33
By texting, you agree to receive communications to your phone number from Everytown organizations. Msg freq varies. STOP to quit. Msg & data rates may apply. everytown.org/terms.
Sign Up
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Join the Conversation
#KILLERBUSINESS
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National firearms commerce and trafficking assessment: Firearms commerce in the United States, volume I. U.S. Department of Justice.
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. (2022). Federal firearms licensee theft/loss report 2022. U.S. Department of Justice.
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National firearms commerce and trafficking assessment (NFCTA): Volume II, part III: Crime guns recovered and traced in the United States. U.S. Department of Justice.
- U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform. (2022). Analysis of crime guns recovered and traced to dealers.
- Sweeney, K. (2021, May 26). Gun dealers let off the hook when ATF inspections find violations. USA Today.
- Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, The Truth About Gun Dealers in America, 4.
- Note: The character of Gary is fictionalized and not intended to represent any specific person.
