The gun industry morally elevates itself by equating guns with revered social reformers.

Evidence

The gun industry favors morally uplifting comparative associations, however. By equating guns with freedom of speech, the gun industry creates a comparison that is morally elevating. In an example of how the industry achieves this by linking its wares to just causes fought for by revered social reformers, Sandra Froman (2007) cited both Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks for moral uplift: Look at Susan B. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1080

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the comparative-ennoblement mechanism of moral disengagement: associating one’s conduct with revered figures raises its moral standing by association.
• SEED: Essay angle: the rhetorical trick of borrowing moral authority from revered reformers to legitimize contemporary positions — a case study in comparative moral uplift, in contrast to bandwagoning or appeals to tradition.