![]() “This is why we have concealed carry laws: so gun manufacturers could make smaller guns and sell more guns. We own half of all the civilian guns in the world.” The industry, via the NRA, has repeatedly intervened to create debates in order to expand the market. In her mind, it’s important to recognise that “we have a saturated market. The second amendment has been turned into a marketing tool Penny Okamoto, Ceasefire Oregon Over the phone she speaks with calm purpose, and a surprising level of optimism, about a problem that many consider intractable. Gun control activists like Penny Okamoto from Ceasefire Oregon are acutely aware of the way the industry turns aspects of the debate to its advantage. Photograph: Exotic FirearmsĪnd herein lies one of the other paradoxes of gun control: even raising it as a prospect represents a sales opportunity, a stimulus to demand for a sprawling industry that includes both multinationals and mom-and-pop operations. The Nemesis 37mm projectile launcher, sold by Exotic Firearms, in action. In the coming political year, “if Hillary Clinton is the frontrunner, it will go insane, business will go through the roof”, he says. There were big shortages around the election of Barack Obama. “If a particular candidate threatens bans or changes in the laws, a lot of people want to buy up in case it passes.” ![]() These surges he puts down to shifts in the political wind. Now and again in recent years, he has struggled to keep up with the demand for certain kinds of ammunition. He makes ammo at home under federal license, and also sources it for resale from other small manufacturers. Of course, one can’t have a gun without ammo, the manufacture of which is the principal concern of Nate Niece’s Red Skull Ammo, another one-person local operation. Still, when it’s affixed to a gun it looks like the kind of thing that has launched a million grenades in a thousand action films and first-person shooters, which is presumably a major source of its appeal. “It’s legally defined by the ATF as a signalling device.” Using it with anti-personnel projectiles would require modification and the sourcing of ammunition, which is not exactly easy to come by.įisher sells the launchers with bundles of flares and fireworks, and insists that the main purpose is amusement. He sells the Nemesis 37mm projectile launcher, which can be affixed to a simple stock or to the rack on a range of rifle platforms. Then there’s Exotic Firearms, founded and run by buff and chatty ex-marine Ryan Fisher. “I can do a custom order at no additional charge and make it specific to whatever firearm.” They can choose from existing designs, or create their own combination of colours and styles. She now runs a thriving business from her home and sells the bags online to women all over the country. “For women, the problem is that holsters are a great way to carry, but a lot of women couldn’t hide a holster,” she explains.īrincat, a mother who lives in rural Oregon, designed a bag for herself a couple of years ago, then found that there was a market for her designs. She got the idea after noticing that in warmer months, women’s clothing does not allow guns to be effectively hidden. Photograph: PRĪlicia Brincat’s Twelve-Six Company makes leather handbags with an interior holster so that women can more effectively carry concealed handguns. ![]() There are whole parallel industries offering accessories, literature and pro-gun ephemera.Īlicia Brincat’s Twelve-Six Company makes handbags for women who want to carry guns. Thousands upon thousands of handguns, shotguns, rifles and assault weapons were arrayed for inspection and sale on tables rented by exhibitors, some of whom were gun stores or manufacturers, and some of whom were part-timers only selling at shows and online.īut it wasn’t just weapons on offer. The show filled a cavernous room at the Portland expo center. And it’s only at a show like this that one can get a sense of how this translates into a broader, all-American “gun culture”. Whereas some see an AR-15 as a source of mortal peril, others see such weapons as a guarantee of safety, as well as a source of pleasure. “People think: ‘I need to protect myself and my home,’” he says.Īnd thus our conversation arrived quickly at the crucial sticking point in the debate about gun control. Still, since the shootings, he’s seen people coming in to buy several weapons to outfit themselves and family members, or to provide for different scenarios. Drake explains that “people are hunting deer with these now. Not all of these are for what the industry describes as “home defence”. They make semi-automatic rifles conforming to the AR-15 platform in-house, sourcing their parts from local manufacturers. One of J & B’s specialties is tactical weapons. J & B Firearm Sales’ business was brisk at the gun show. ![]()
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