To: Loretta E. Lynch, Attorney General of the United States, Department of Justice
No tax dollars to the gun industry!
The Department of Justice must stop giving grants to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which is like entrusting the tobacco industry with our tax dollars to protect the public against lung cancer.
Why is this important?
The U.S. Justice Department has awarded the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the official trade association of the firearms industry, $2.4 million for its “Project ChildSafe” program, which it says protects children by supplying gunlocks to households.
Gunlocks are important, but there are other giveaway programs the DOJ could support. Just as important is advancing gun safety policies, against which the NSSF has been one of the strongest opponents. For example, at a time when more than 20,000 children go to the emergency room every year with gun injuries, the NSSF has been among the most aggressive advocates for loosening gun laws and getting firearms into as many hands as possible to expand gun sales. It has strongly opposed universal background checks, and works to “rebrand” military-bred assault rifles like the AR-15 and AK-47 as “modern sporting rifles.” Most recently, it joined the NRA in suing Seattle over a sales tax on guns and ammunition designed to help offset the costs of gun violence in the city.
Giving the NSSF gun safety grants is like entrusting the tobacco industry with taxpayer dollars to protect the public against lung cancer. By doing so, the DOJ only helps the gun industry project an image of being committed to gun safety, when in reality its top commitment is to expanding gun sales. In a nation where 33,000 Americans die each year from guns, our tax dollars should be spent supporting those working to reduce gun violence, not helping facilitate it.
Gunlocks are important, but there are other giveaway programs the DOJ could support. Just as important is advancing gun safety policies, against which the NSSF has been one of the strongest opponents. For example, at a time when more than 20,000 children go to the emergency room every year with gun injuries, the NSSF has been among the most aggressive advocates for loosening gun laws and getting firearms into as many hands as possible to expand gun sales. It has strongly opposed universal background checks, and works to “rebrand” military-bred assault rifles like the AR-15 and AK-47 as “modern sporting rifles.” Most recently, it joined the NRA in suing Seattle over a sales tax on guns and ammunition designed to help offset the costs of gun violence in the city.
Giving the NSSF gun safety grants is like entrusting the tobacco industry with taxpayer dollars to protect the public against lung cancer. By doing so, the DOJ only helps the gun industry project an image of being committed to gun safety, when in reality its top commitment is to expanding gun sales. In a nation where 33,000 Americans die each year from guns, our tax dollars should be spent supporting those working to reduce gun violence, not helping facilitate it.