Company That Sold Rifle That Killed 2-Year-Old Yanks Its Kids Advertising

[DonViejo]

Source: TPM

Keystone Sporting Arms, the company that makes Crickett rifles for kids — one comes in hot pink for girls — has taken down the web site, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook pages it used to target its gun marketing at the under-10s.

The ads have been yanked following the death of a 2-year-old girl who was shot by her 5-year-old brother.

Crickett’s marketing is controversial because, as Mother Jones reported, the company had a “Kids Corner” on its site, and also carried customer photos of children and even babies carrying holding firearms.

Crickett’s commercial even shows a mom accidentally pointing a rifle at her son’s head:

full article at link

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2013/05/rifle-company-made-rifle-that-killed-child-yanks-kids-advertising.php?ref=fpb

[onehandle]

1. Shame the gun loons. nt

[Hoyt]

2. Good, maybe the death merchants will end up jobless and unable to afford a gun.

[Skittles]

15. naw - there's plenty of cowards to keep them busy

[Hoyt]

16. Sad, ain't it?

[Skittles]

17. the ones on DU especially disgust me

[cvoogt]

3. Child endangerment

on the part of the company AND the parents who bought this stuff. Just because adults might like doing certain things doesn't mean they should push it onto their kids. Somehow getting your kids to drink or smoke is not OK, but shooting a gun is a given? To me they're at the same level, in fact the gun is more dangerous.

[Robb]

4. Temporary.

Remember, Bushmaster paid a half million dollars to the victims of the Beltway Sniper. Then laid low.

A few years later, you get "man card" crapola. And more killing.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. Bushmaster's payout was a small fraction of the settlement

and reflected the fact that an authorized distributor of their product was 'losing' inventory. Not really under BM's control, but they, in addition to the settlement, started training distributors on records keeping and inventory control.

Some distributors lost status for failure to comply. I see that as a good thing.

Why 'Bullseye Shooter Supply' is still in business, and the owner not in jail, I have no idea. I wonder that every time I drive by those idiots.

[Aristus]

5. They pulled the advertising, but not the gun.

Reminds me of Martin Sheen's line from "Apocalypse Now.": "It was a way we had of living with ourselves over here; we'd cut 'em in half with a machine gun, and give 'em a Band-Aid."

[SansACause]

6. Pink guns disturb me

Whether the Crickett pink rifle or the .380 Ruger that Arizona state Sen. Lori Klein (R) pulled (loaded) on a reporter a couple of years ago, those things freak me out. It's taking a deadly weapon and making it cutesy. It seems the exact opposite of the oxymoronic idea of "gun safety" the NRA is always going on about.

[mwrguy]

12. I have seen many on here suggest that all guns should be made pink

so that typical overcompensating gun owners won't want anything to do with them.

[SansACause]

14. Yeah, I get that

But right now the pink weapons are being sold to children and women.

[wickerwoman]

18. I'm surprised they're allowed to make them in naturalistic colours.

On the Crickett website they have what look like pretty authentic black submachine guns.

I thought back in the 90s there was a big trend against making water guns that could be mistaken for the real thing after some kids got shot by the cops with them.

Maybe it was only a local law though or pressure from the retailers.

[dem in texas]

7. The parents have the money

I can't believe any parent in their right would buy a 5 year-old a gun. AND we are so careful, reading all the news flashes about toys taken off the market because they are too dangerous for children, But, that okay, just get them a child's gun. Unbelievable!

[tblue]

10. You can't give a kid a plastic bag

or contaminated lettuce or aspirin or that gel candy from Mexico or beer or cigarettes or toys made of lead, unless you want the kid sick or injured.

But guns and ammo is cool. Anything bad happens is an 'accident' that no one saw coming. It's unfortunate but, hell, it's our 2A Right (to put our children in danger).

Otay.....

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Shitheels

These people are scum of the worst kind.

[MissNostalgia]

11. But....teh Freedumbs

They got what they wanted, why take down this marketing now. I guess they will revamp the ads to encourage ALL household children to be armed for combat, not just one, problem solved.

[marble falls]

13. Way late but smart. What else are they doing? It isn't as if these things....

were lawn darts where a relative handful of deaths got it taken off the market. How many kids are killed by handguns by accident every year? Thousands.

When my kids were young they had "toy" guns. It was impress on them they were not to point them at either humans or animals. If they were caught at it - they were disarmed. Finally I got them to understand guns are tools.

When I was a kid, we had a toy representation of every single weapon known to man and we played deadly forms of cops and robbers, WWII, cowboys and Indians all summer long played very dangerously with fireworks and bb's and .22's And we were the generation that protested the war in iet Nam.

You know, the stuff I would never allow my kids to do and would be horrified if my grankids did (though I would be understanding).

I don't know what age is appropriate for kids to be armed. I got my first firearm, .410 single round shotgun at 14. Apparently, a lot of folks should never be allowed, but something over five years old, at least. Maybe there is a five year old who 'qualifies', haven't seen him/her yet. And I cannot imagine leaving a weapon or a tool as dangerous as a weapon out where a five year old could get his hands on it. I was 15 or 16 before I was allowed to hunt rabbit on our farm without an adult.

Adults need to go to prison when minors victimize or are victimized by gun violence. Some adult made that gun available to the kid.