"A .22 For Christmas"

The gun industry, having saturated their primary market, is working to entice the "next generation" of shooters. The gun industry works to portray its youth marketing efforts as a short-cut for children to learn responsibility and gain maturity. In fact, the gun industry's real goals are long-term fiscal and political viability.

In 1998, 1,971 youths aged 17 and under were killed with guns.²⁸ More than four times that number were wounded in non-fatal shootings.²⁹ The firearms industry and gun lobby should not be allowed to attempt to secure their survival by endangering the lives of another generation of children. Federal law already prohibits the purchase of a handgun from a federally licensed firearms dealer by those under 21 years of age and bars the purchase of long guns by those under 18. The Violence Policy Center recommends that federal law should be simplified to make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to buy or possess a long gun and for anyone under the age of 21 to buy or possess a handgun.

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