Here is an article from CNN.com suggesting that manufacturers are also responsible for violent crimes committed and need to monitor distribution of guns:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/opinion/bradford-gun-marketing/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7
(CNN) -- Each year, about 30,000 people are killed and 300,000 violent crimes
are committed with firearms. In economic terms, firearm violence -- for
things such as medical care, police, criminal justice, lost
productivity, pain and suffering -- costs $100 billion a year, according
to studies by Johns Hopkins University and the Public Services Research Institute.
This reality tears at the
social fabric of the United States, and Americans pay the social and
psychological consequences. But the gun debate will continue to be a
one-sided fight until the American public chooses to take action.
Most of the debate
revolves around what government should do. But we can also look at the
issue as a marketing problem. American consumers are the central part of
a vast aggregate marketing system, and the central issue as it pertains
to guns is power.
The gun lobby has wielded
its power effectively, but the potentially powerful American consumer
market has not. The gun lobby influences how guns are marketed and under
which laws. The only difference between the gun lobby and concerned
Americans is that the gun lobby -- and thus the politicians supporting
the gun lobby -- pays attention to details.
It has made its primary
goal to vehemently block any change to gun laws for fear that passage of
even one law could lead to the eradication of firearms for all.
But that is not the issue here. Many concerned citizens are not advocating the abolition of firearms for responsible gun owners.
The problem is that
there are too few and very limited laws to force manufacturers to
safeguard their distribution channels, and manufacturers are not putting
these safeguards into place.
Our research found that about 45% to 60% of the guns traced to crime came from about 1% of the nation's gun dealers and
that implementation of safeguards is associated with a smaller number
of guns being diverted to crime or used in crime. Interestingly, many of
the common sense distribution laws that would force a safer
distribution of firearms are in place for other industries that sell
products that can cause harm.
Firearms product diversion involves the seepage of guns from legal channels of distribution into illegal hands.
To prevent this from
occurring, firearms manufacturers have the opportunity to implement
distribution safeguards, common across many of the industries that
manufacture products that can cause harm (such as explosives, fireworks,
and pharmaceuticals).
Such safeguards include
manufacturers training their dealers and distributors to identify and
handle illegal purchasers at the point of sale, developing a code of
conduct for distributors, and requiring them to implement record keeping
measures in order to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
The notion of
safeguarding is important because a recent study found that 1 in 9 (11%)
of handguns distributed into legal channels in 1996 were found to have
been used in crime by 2000. It was also found that one manufacturer had
55% of its guns end up in crime during this time period (the range was
2% to 55% for all manufacturers studied).
This study also found
that the number of safeguards used across the studied firms (which
accounted for over 90% of the U.S. gun sales) was very low, averaging
less than one safeguard (.77) per firm. Only a slight majority employed
any recommended safeguards during that time.
One reason the public
has not been paying attention is that they think the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives can address enforcement for us. But
at this point, the bureau needs our help -- it does not have the
resources to combat this problem, because gun lobbies and the
politicians who support them have tied its hands. So, Americans must
act.
The National Rifle
Association grades political candidates on their voting history, giving
high marks to those who vote for its policies. These ratings influence
how guns are distributed in the United States.
In response, concerned citizens should do the same thing.
We should grade firearms
manufacturers on how well they address distribution and the diversion
of their guns to criminals. Americans should look at these grades and
buy firearms accordingly.
The group Mayors Against
Illegal Guns suggests that if manufacturers don't comply with set goals
of safety, the nation's mayors and municipalities will not do business
with them. Concerned Americans should follow suit.
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