The man at the gun show lifted a 2.2 pound rifle and pulled back the stock with an audible 鈥渃hock,鈥� presenting it to the YouTube segment鈥檚 host.
鈥淲hen we set out to produce a small firearm for children in an AR-looking package, we were pretty sure we needed to have a 鈥榳ow factor鈥� in the safety area,鈥� Eric Schmid, owner of Wee 1 Tactical, said in a video .
What Utah-based Wee 1 Tactical produced was a smaller model of the AR-15, called the JR-15. Schmid was in Las Vegas in January to promote the smaller weapon, which will look and feel 鈥渏ust like Mom and Dad鈥檚 gun.鈥�
Schmid demonstrated a safety pin intended to keep the weapon鈥檚 trigger locked. He and the host noted that it would likely prevent small children from operating a firearm without their parents present.
鈥淚t takes a lot of tension to be able to pull that out,鈥� said host Barret Kendrick.
鈥淵our 12-year-olds are gonna unlock it really quickly,鈥� Schmid replied.
A bill that passed out of the Assembly on Thursday night would make the marketing of firearms to children and those not legally allowed to possess them a civil liability. would allow lawsuits against gun manufacturers based on their marketing, one of the few exemptions to a federal ban on such lawsuits. The bill is now in the hands of the Senate.
Brought by San Francisco Democrat , the bill is an attempt to ensure that gun manufacturers can鈥檛 object in state court to lawsuits that target their marketing 鈥� an argument Smith & Wesson made in a San Diego court last year.
The proposal is similar to a bill passed last year in New York 鈥� one that survived a in federal court on Wednesday.
鈥淯nfortunately, it seems like not a day goes by before there鈥檚 another tragic mass shooting,鈥� Ting said. 鈥淲e have guns in the hands of the wrong people and we have an industry that takes no responsibility for empowering killers in our community.鈥�
The bill alleges that some gun manufacturers market and sell 鈥渋ncreasingly dangerous new products,鈥� from to , which give them an unfair business advantage over 鈥渕ore responsible competitors.鈥� If passed, the bill would allow the Department of Justice, county attorneys, city attorneys and the public to sue over those practices.
Among the practices singled out in the bill are:
- Manufacturers that produce guns with features 鈥渕ost suitable for assaultive purposes鈥� rather than hunting or self-defense.
- Guns designed, sold or marketed in a way that 鈥渇oreseeably promotes鈥� their conversion into an illegal weapon, such as turning a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon.
- Guns designed, sold or marketed to children or people who are legally prohibited from possessing firearms.
The bill is part of a larger wave of more than a dozen gun control laws proposed by California Democrats ahead of today鈥檚 deadline to move bills from their house of origin.
On Wednesday, one day after a man killed at least 21 people with in a shooting at a Texas elementary school, Gov. Gavin Newsom singled out some gun marketing tactics at a press conference rallying support for AB 1594 and other gun control measures.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got folks out there manufacturing and marketing an AR-15 for babies. For babies,鈥� Newsom said. 鈥淎nd their logo is a pacifier with the baby AR-15. These are extremists. They need to be called out.鈥�
Newsom seemed to be talking about the JR-15 and Wee 1 Tactical鈥檚 logo, which is two skulls with a target in one eye and a pacifier in each mouth. One skull has a mohawk and the other has pigtails.
Lawsuits against gun manufacturers are prohibited by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a 2005 law that the NRA said at the time was 鈥渢he most significant piece of pro-gun legislation in twenty years.鈥�
President Joe Biden has said repealing the law is among his , though his Justice Department continues to .
The federal law allowed for in which lawsuits are allowable against gun manufacturers. One of them is for manufacturers who violate state or federal laws governing the marketing or sales of guns.
The marketing exception to the law allowed parents of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre to successfully sue Remington Arms last year. A state lawsuit in San Diego after a 2019 shooting was allowed to proceed last year on the same basis.
The survivors of the shooting at a San Diego area synagogue argued that Smith & Wesson used marketing 鈥渢hat attracted impulsive young men with military complexes who were particularly likely to be attracted to the unique ability of AR-15 style weapons.鈥�
Smith & Wesson responded that the federal law shielded them from such lawsuits, but a San Diego County Superior Court judge disagreed, citing the marketing exception.
Michael Schwartz, executive director of San Diego County Gun Owners, said the bill and others brought forward by Democrats this session are a threat to gun ownership rights throughout California.
鈥淚f fully realized and implemented, it鈥檚 an enormous threat to gun rights,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no way to stop anyone from using a product illegally. But you wouldn鈥檛 sue Ford for someone drinking and driving.鈥�
When it comes to the JR-15, singled out by Newsom, Schwartz said marketing is still directed to the people who can purchase the guns, the parents. And, he said, previous laws around regulating the marketing of age-limited products like tobacco don鈥檛 apply to guns.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what the perceived fear is, but I鈥檓 not afraid that kids are gonna get addicted to an AR-15,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most popular long gun in the United States because it functions in all kinds of situations.鈥�
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