The massacre of children by children at a Jonesboro, Arkansas middle school has focused new attention on America's youth gun culture.

"Most parents would be shocked at the gun lobby's vision of childhood: Sesame Street with semi-automatic weapons. Possession and use of guns by young children�including participation in full-auto machine gun shoots�is not only never questioned, but actively promoted," states Violence Policy Center (VPC) Director of Federal Policy Kristen Rand.

A new VPC report, Young Guns: How the Gun Lobby Nurtures America's Youth Gun Culture, documents how America's gun industry and organizations like the National Rifle Association (NRA) and National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) court America's children and actually encourage the use and possession of guns by kids. The 38-page document set includes:

• quotes from the NRA, NSSF, and gun industry members on efforts to involve children in the gun culture;

• photos of children with guns from gun industry catalogs and gun magazines;

• State and national statistics on youth firearms death.

"If America is willing to accept the youth gun culture envisioned by the gun lobby, tragedies like Jonesboro are, unfortunately, inevitable," adds Rand.

America's gun lobby, however, dismisses the growing toll of death and injury that has accompanied increased access to guns by youth. For example, in 1994 Bill Ruger, head of gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., stated:

I just have to wonder how many schoolchildren go to school and worry about getting shot. If there are some rotten kids who are carrying a gun, that can't happen very often. But it gets a lot of play with the press.

NRA President Marion Hammer has described the gun lobby's youth marketing efforts as an "old-fashioned wrestling match for the hearts and minds of our children, and we'd better engage our adversaries with no holds barred...." Other gun lobby quotes and information taken from the VPC document set include:

• Kids can't buy guns, you say? Well, yes and no. It's true that most students from kindergarten through high school can't purchase firearms on their own. But it's also true that in many parts of the country, youngsters (from preteens on up) are shooting and hunting. Pop picks up the tab. [NSSF SHOT Business,1993]

• In response to the question, "How old is old enough?" the NSSF pamphlet When Your Youngster Wants a Gun... responds, "Age is not the major yardstick. Some youngsters are ready to start at 10, others at 14. The only real measures are those of maturity and individual responsibility. Does your youngster follow directions well? Is he conscientious and reliable? Would you leave him alone in the house for two or three hours? Would you send him to the grocery store with a list and a $20 bill? If the answer to these questions or similar ones are `yes,' then the answer can also be `yes' when your child asks for his first gun."

• The NRA youth magazine InSights, routinely contains ads for firearms, including such weapons as the Harrington & Richardson 929 Sidekick revolver and the Savage Arms "Predator" combination rifle/shotgun.

• "Do you have guns in your heart...? [My friend]...said it made him sad and angry, because he knew the daily hostility we all face as adults now�for believing in the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights�will grow even greater toward that youngster and all the others like him. `Why should a kid have to face that? Gun ownership is intrinsically good and intrinsically innocent...' my friend said." [NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre,"Standing Guard," American Rifleman, March 1998]

• Gun manufacturer Browning's 1997 catalog features a toddler wearing a Browning shirt as well as ear and eye protection. Another photograph shows another toddler wearing a Browning cap while placing expended shotgun shells on his fingers.

Follow this link to view photo excerpts from Young Guns. For information on ordering this report, please return to the publications page.

President Clinton is expected to soon announce the results of a 120-day review of the process by which the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) regulates the import of foreign-made assault rifles. The President ordered ATF to reexamine its import criteria for so-called "sporterized" assault weapons after it was disclosed last November that the agency was allowing large numbers of such weapons into the country. In anticipation of the White House announcement, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) has released Target America: Can the Flood of Foreign Assault Weapons be Stopped? The new 72-page report:

• offers a short narrative of the controversy over imported assault weapons;

• presents advertising and catalog photos of the specific firearms considered for import by ATF;

• offers information on criminal traces for foreign-made assault weapons broken out by state for the years 1995 and 1996; and,

• contains original source documents cited in the report.

Available Resources:

Follow this link to view the full text (except for the appendices) of Target America: Can the Flood of Foreign Assault Weapons be Stopped? For information on ordering a hard copy of this study, including the appendices, please return to the publications page.

The Violence Policy Center (VPC) has just released an essential resource manual on the most important and commonly referenced studies and publications concerning firearms and firearms violence issues in the United States.

Where Did You Get That Statistic? is an easy to use, comprehensive bibliography citing studies and publications that offer the most complete, up-to-date information and statistics related to the firearms debate. The VPC manual includes citations and references on the following topics:

Firearms Homicide

• Homicide and domestic violence
• Homicide in the workplace

Firearms Suicide

• Suicide among adolescents
• Suicide among older Americans

Firearm-Related Injury

• Unintentional firearm-related death
• Fatal and nonfatal injuries

Firearms Ownership

• Self defense
• Concealed carry

Firearms Industry

• Gun dealers and gun shows
• Marketing to women and youth

Firearms and crime

• Firearm crime trends and annual reports
• Costs associated with firearms injury

Available Resources:

Follow this link to view Where Did You Get That Statistic? A hard copy of Where Did You Get That Statistic? is available from the VPC for $3.00. For information on ordering this study please return to the publications page.

The Senate is gearing up to consider the "Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act," (S. 10). The bill is aimed at reducing juvenile crime, however, it contains virtually no provisions to reduce the availability of guns to kids. The Violence Policy Center is working with a coalition of organizations, including the Children's Defense Fund, who believe that the problem of juvenile crime cannot be addressed without the inclusion of meaningful gun control provisions. Statistics show that virtually all of the increase in juvenile homicide is firearm-related and the recent headlines from Jonesboro, Arkansas confirm the need to severely restrict kids' access to guns. The bottom line is that the problem of juvenile crime cannot effectively be addressed without meeting America's gun problem head on.

On March 19, 1998 members of Congress introduced the Violence Against Women Prevention Act of 1998 (VAWA II). This package of proposed legislation extends a national program to combat domestic violence against women that began with the passage of VAWA I as part of the Crime Control Act of 1994. The VAWA II package includes more than 40 bills and addresses domestic violence issues such as: combating violence in the workplace; providing housing for battered women; reauthorizing funding for the national domestic violence hotline; and, allowing judges to consider domestic violence when determining joint custody. One title of the VAWA II package includes a gun control provision entitled, "Prohibition on Transfer of Firearms to Intoxicated Individuals." This bill is designed to keep guns out of the hands of drunk individuals by making it illegal for anyone who is considered to be intoxicated (as defined by the laws of their state) to purchase or possess a firearm. Representative John Conyers (D-MI) sponsored the bill after a civil case was overturned because there was no applicable law that prohibited firearm sales to intoxicated individuals. The case involved a domestic violence victim who was shot by her drunk ex-boyfriend and the K-Mart retailer who sold the firearm to him.

In the annual bloodletting commonly known as the National Rifle Association board of directors election, the pro-gun credentials of NRA First Vice President Charlton Heston have been called into question by NRA board member and self-appointed pro-gun conscience Neal Knox. The basis for Knox's attack are documents obtained from the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas. Among the documents available from Knox's web site located at www.NealKnox.com is a June 1968 statement issued by Heston, along with Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, Hugh O'Brien, and Gregory Peck on the Joey Bishop Show in the wake of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. In the statement, the actors call for "the people of this country to rise up and demand that the Congress give us a strong and effective gun control law." The statement also notes, "Our gun control laws are so lax that anyone can buy a weapon...the mentally ill, the criminal, the boy too young to bear the responsibility of owning a deadly weapon...6,500 people are murdered every year with firearms in these United States. This is an outrage and when it is compared with the far, far lower rates in other free countries, it is intolerable." Thirty years later, Heston is now leading the NRA's youth recruitment efforts. In September 1997 the NRA launched a campaign, led by Heston, targeting America's youth. The cover of that month's American Rifleman magazine features a grim Heston surrounded by a multi-ethnic array of children. The cover asks the question, "Are Gun Rights Lost on Our Kids?" In an accompanying article, Heston asks readers to "join me in the arena," stating: "I am back because I see a nation of children, a couple of entire generations, that have been brainwashed into believing that the Second Amendment is criminal in origin, rather than framed within the Constitution....I am back because I have a torch I hope to pass along... to my six-year-old grandson, Jack...." NRA election results will be announced at the organization's annual meeting to be held this June in Philadelphia, PA.

Back Issues of VPC OnLine News