Geraldo Rivera just said with a straight face on The Five that the “AR” in AR-15 stands for “Automatic Rifle.”
Just weeks after a 6-year-old shot his teacher, a gun trade show in Las Vegas is hosting a manufacturer promoting its “JR-15,” a child-size AR-15 rifle.
The JR-15 was first launched last year by gun manufacturer WEE1 Tactical. The launch sparked outrage as the company promoted the J.V. death machine with cartoon skulls and crossbones stylized as boys and girls. The presumed boy skull had a blonde mohawk and green pacifier, while the girl skull sported blonde pigtails and pink bows and a pink pacifier. Both cartoons had one eye patched with a rifle sight.
A prominent gun convention began Tuesday in Las Vegas, less than 3 miles from the site of America’s deadliest shooting, with organizers welcoming thousands of visitors, hundreds of suppliers and a firearm marketed at children.
The presence of the JR-15 firearm at the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show — or SHOT Show — came as a finger in the eye to gun safety activists, who have for months called out the long rifle.
In June, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spoke on the House floor beside a JR-15 advertisement poster, which carried graphics of pony-tailed skulls with green and pink pacifiers in their mouths.
Pelosi, then the House speaker, called the gun’s marketing “disgusting.”
“Look at these little skulls,” Pelosi said sadly.
Despite outcry, the weapon landed at a booth on the lower level of SHOT Show’s Venetian Expo showcase, according to the gun’s manufacturer, Wee 1 Tactical.
Perhaps in response to criticism, the gunmaker has toned down some of its marketing. But its website still carries a banner showing a child aiming a rifle.
SHOT Show’s booth listing says the single-round rifle is “geared towards smaller enthusiasts” and promises the JR-15 will “assist families in safely passing on the proud American tradition of responsible gun ownership.”
“We believe that with proper mentorship this platform will build confidence and teach responsibility,” the listing says.
The 45th annual SHOT Show is taking place about a 15-minute drive from the high-rise hotel where a perched gunman rained bullets on an outdoor concert five years ago, killing 60 people.
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