Not every part of the gun industry is self centered to the point of promoting violence.

[flamin lib]

https://www.thetrace.org/2016/08/top-gun-industry-group-nssf-suicide-prevention/

The Top Gun Industry Trade Group Just Pledged to Help to Prevent Nearly 10,000 Suicides

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry’s top trade group, is partnering for the first time with the country’s leading suicide prevention organization. The ambitious goal of the collaboration: averting nearly 10,000 deaths over the next decade.

The program, initiated by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, will strive to educate people on the risk factors and warning signs of suicide, and provide guidance on how best to talk to someone who may be considering trying to end his or her own life, says Robert Gebbia, the chief executive of AFSP.

Notably, the program will also recommend blocking family members who are suicidal from accessing firearms by, for example, emphasizing the importance of securely locking guns away. It is not clear whether the AFSP guidance will include specific suggestions about how to remove weapons from potentially suicidal people. The NSSF, which represents thousands of gun dealers and manufacturers, provided input into the program and is also promoting it.

Gun groups have traditionally been reluctant to acknowledge that the presence of a firearm poses an increased risk to people who are considering taking their own lives. Gebbia says buy-in from the NSSF is especially important in persuading people that blocking gun access in certain situations is about saving lives, not depriving people of their rights.

Since we can't get realistic enforceable restrictions on firearms it falls to the last contact point between gun and human; the guy at the counter in a gun store. Sad, but that's what it boils down to, asking a sales guy at the counter who makes a living on commission to forego income to prevent death and injury. The vast majority of gun dealers want to do the right thing and reduce the death, injury and pain caused by guns. The vast majority of counter sales people realize the weight of responsibility they bear when a customer uses a firearm they sold to commit suicide and take that burden damn seriously. Anecdotally, I read of one gun dealer who sold a gun to a man who killed himself with it an hour later. Upon hearing that the gun had been traced back to his personal sale he closed the doors of his store and sold it.

This is a good program, doesn't infringe anybody's rights and reduces gun violence. For those who don't think suicide by gun is a violent act I suggest they google images for gun + suicide and consider coming home to find a loved one that looks like that.

This isn't the first attempt the NSSF has made to reduce gun violence. Back in 2002 they began a program called 'Don't lie for the other guy' to prevent straw purchases. It's a best practices for detecting a straw purchase and reporting attempts to police. https://www.nssf.org/factsheets/PDF/strawPurchase.pdf Needless to say the gun manufacturers and NRA/ILA were not enthusiastic.

They also have published a best practices guide for tracking serial numbers on sales--required by law but there aren't any instructions on how to easily do so.

These are, needless to say, strictly voluntary and not supported by the NRA/ILA and most gun manufacturers. It kinda flies in the face of profiteering to suggest reducing sales for any reason. The business of business is business, nothing more.

The BATF&E says that 90% of crime guns traced to dealers come from 5% of the dealers. Of course that doesn't make a lot of difference when 40% of guns are sold by non dealers and 200,000 guns a year are "stolen".

We can do better and a small portion of gun industry is trying. Now if we can just get the legislature to help them out with realistic and enforceable restrictions . . .

ETA: AND REPEAL THE PLCCA!

[msongs]

1. mass shootings are free promotion for the death merchants in the gun industry. nt

[flamin lib]

2. Unfortunately it works out that way. It also works out that when something that makes us

safer, like restrictions to keep guns out of the wrong hands, it also promotes gun sales.

Still at least somebody in the gun world is paying a little attention.