Gun industry profits drive escalating weapons lethality and rights framing

Evidence

In the second source of economic growth, gun manufacturers compete for market share by producing guns of escalating lethality. They achieve a competitive edge by adding accessories from military-style automatic assault weapons with large capacity magazines. Manufacturers strenuously oppose efforts to ban militarized rifles because they are the most profitable big-ticket items. Spokespersons for the industry trade association, as well as wholesalers and retailers, promote increasingly lethal guns in the language of gun rights and self-defense. They also do damage control in the aftermath of tragic mass killings. The NRA, in turn, applies its political power to keep lawmakers in line. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1347

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes moral disengagement’s euphemistic labeling and ‘rights’ justification mechanics from earlier chapters.