Guns are a consumer product. They are manufactured and marketed by gun companies, sold to distributors, and sold again to customers in retail stores. Like other consumer products, the businesses that make them are incentivized to make a profit, and one of the ways they do that is by cultivating an identity around their products. Gunmakers have glommed onto the notion of everyday carry and made little pistols that can be carried around discreetly. They also perpetuate the fear that drives people to “everyday carry” guns to help justify the purchase, and the gun lobby has weaponized these consumers as a politically motivated consumer-constituency.
We wanted to understand more about how this happens, so we started analyzing content in the gun-marketing ecosystem to see what we could learn about guns as a consumer product and the role of marketing in the gun business. In September 2024, we analyzed the activity of six major gun companies — Smith & Wesson, Sturm Ruger & Co., SIG Sauer, Glock, Springfield Armory and Daniel Defense — as well as broader discussion of these brands online. We monitored the social media accounts of major gun influencers for mentions of the target brand, as well as keywords and hashtags commonly used in online discussions of gun-related issues. We captured nearly 500 gun company advertisements and social media posts, and more than 13,000 social media posts from Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter), and online forums over the month of September by monitoring key gun influencer accounts and popular keywords and hashtags.
To make sense of the data, we reached out to Michelle Barnhart and Aimee Huff, Associate Professors of Marketing with the College of Business at Oregon State University, and their colleague, Associate Professor of Sociology Brett Burkhardt, with the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University. Michelle, Aimee, and Brett have studied consumer socialization around guns extensively.
To start, what is consumer socialization? Why is it important to think about in the context of gun culture?
Michelle: Consumer socialization is the process of a person learning how to choose, buy, and use products and services. It involves developing knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors related to the product, and toward other people who use or don’t use the product. We are socialized by our families, communities, media, and marketers. It’s a very complex process that happens differently for different people.
Consumer socialization is a useful concept for thinking about American gun culture because it helps to explain why people have such different perspectives on the role of guns in everyday life. For example, people who grew up with, or currently have, guns in their house will have developed different knowledge and attitudes about guns than those who didn’t because they’ve been socialized by parents, gun safety and training programs, local hunting groups, friends who accompany them to the shooting range, or a wide variety of other influences — including marketing by the gun industry.
Brett, with your background in sociology, can you help us understand how we got to the point of seeing “gun owner” as an identity? Who was behind that, and who benefits or hurts from the notion that the product has an associated identity?
Brett: “Gun owner” has evolved into a specific identity due to intensive consumer socialization work by the NRA. Political scientist Matthew Lacombe has done work documenting the group’s decades-long project of cultivating a gun-owner identity among Americans who own guns. That identity involves participation in gun activities, contact with the NRA, affiliation with the Republican Party, a belief that gun ownership is a moral duty of a responsible citizen, and a belief that gun ownership is under threat. This identity is deeply felt and shapes how people see themselves in relation to other people and to gun policies.
Not all gun owners adopt this identity, but those who do make up a highly active and attentive group, who provide their votes, time, and money in support of pro-gun politicians and policies. To be effective, proposals to regulate firearms should recognize the deeply felt nature of this identity and the possibility that gun owners may view certain policy changes as a personal attack on their values and morality.
We’ve noticed that several gun manufacturers have a strong social media presence. What role does digital marketing play in socializing consumers to gun ownership and creating a gun-owner identity?
Michelle: Digital marketing is an important platform for consumer socialization by the gun industry. While many digital platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, prohibit the sale of firearms through their sites, digital platforms are heavily used by gun manufacturers to educate gun owners and those who might be considering buying a gun — or another gun — about the types of guns that are available, what it means to identify as a “gun owner,” and what’s involved in a lifestyle that includes guns. In your first issue, you identified some themes in manufacturers’ social media posts. We have found similar themes in our own data. Posts often introduce consumers to new products and inform consumers about the history and values of the company, as well as encourage gun owners to vote to protect their Second Amendment rights.
Aimee: Social media influencers also play a key role in socializing consumers to gun ownership. Influencers, who refer to themselves as “gunfluencers,” provide specific instruction on how to use firearms and accessories, how to incorporate firearms into consumers’ everyday lives, and how to use various gun-related products to show other people that they identify as gun owners, which for many includes expressing strong support for the Second Amendment.
How do other types of marketing help to socialize consumers and promote a gun owner identity?
Michelle: Gun marketers use several different tools and channels to promote their products and services. In addition to social media, two that are particularly important for the industry are one-on-one selling by gun retailers and print ads in gun-focused magazines. Salespeople in gun retail stores play a key role in socializing consumers as they interact with new and repeat gun buyers in their stores and at gun shows. In addition to providing advice on which type of firearm is best suited to a particular person and a given purpose, salespeople explain and reinforce what it means to identify as a gun owner. For example, a salesperson might suggest a small caliber rifle, such as a .22, as a firearm for a person first learning how to shoot and recommend connecting with the NRA to attend a firearms safety course.
Brett: Sociologist Jennifer Carlson has written about how gun shop owners cultivate the gun-owner identity on this retail level. Gun sellers use the occasion of a new gun purchase to discuss the merits of being armed and the alleged harms caused by government regulations that prevent or delay access to guns. This is especially true for new gun owners, who are more diverse and less likely to fit the demographic profile of traditional gun owners, who have tended to be older, white, and male.
Aimee: Print ads in gun-focused magazines, such as Guns & Ammo, and manufacturer posts on social media play an important role in reinforcing why it’s important to own various types of guns, how guns should be incorporated into daily life, and introducing new firearms to primarily existing gun owners, who are the likely readers of these magazines. Most print ads feature handguns used for the purpose of self-defense, which is consistent with surveys that show that most gun buyers report self-defense as the primary reason for purchase. A much smaller number of ads feature long arms used for hunting and/or a rural lifestyle.
Brett: In recent years, the number of ads featuring AR-15 style rifles has increased substantially. A subset of these ads very explicitly connects owning an AR-15 style rifle with support for the Second Amendment and conservative political ideology, including support for the military. Many of these ads include images of military personnel heroically using assault rifles. These ad campaigns dovetail with product placements of AR-15 style rifles in online first-person shooter games, such as Call of Duty. By featuring their particular brand of firearm in a game, gun manufacturers socialize consumers to gun ownership by placing their brand of gun in the virtual hands of anyone who plays the game, giving them a sense of what it would be like to use it. The demographics of players of games like this tend to skew younger, and the manufacturers are hoping that these existing or potential consumers will become repeat gun buyers who are loyal to the brand of firearm that they became familiar with by playing the game.
What should our readers know about the connection between gun marketing and gun violence?
Aimee: Like marketing for any consumer product, gun marketing attempts to encourage more people to buy the product. Many marketing messages encourage safe use of these consumer products, but some encourage unsafe, irresponsible gun usage, such as ads for assault-style rifles that promote militaristic use against an enemy. And some victims of gun violence have filed lawsuits or complaints with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against gun manufacturers for illegal or irresponsible marketing. There is an opportunity to improve gun industry accountability and ensure ads are consistent with advertising ethics.
Brett: That said, if gun marketing — even that which is done responsibly and ethically — is effective, it will lead to more people having more guns. Policy changes over the last 20 to 30 years have allowed people to have more types of guns in a wider variety of places than in previous decades. Political scientists Matthew Lacombe and Kristin Goss refer to this as a shift toward “guns everywhere” policies. We know a percentage of gun owners will commit violent acts. If gun marketing is effective, such that more people have guns, and policies allow them to carry guns in more places, this will very likely translate into a larger raw number of gun deaths and injuries.
How can we socialize consumers around the notion of not owning a gun? What would that mean for public safety?
Brett: One approach is to cultivate an identity centered on gun safety and regulation. Similar to the gun-owner identity we discussed earlier, this alternative identity would center on a set of shared beliefs, common language, social interaction, and political mobilization. Advocacy organizations like yours are working to develop this more affirmative gun safety identity and culture.
Aimee: Another approach involves substituting other consumer products and activities for guns and shooting. Socializing consumers away from guns involves identifying the activity for which the gun is used, and replacing the gun with another consumer product, similar to what we are currently seeing with marketers of “mocktails” as a replacement for alcohol at social gatherings. For example, a person who hunts or is interested in hunting could be socialized to use a camera to “take their shot” instead of a gun. We’ve encountered some ads for high-quality cameras with a tagline like, “How real hunters get the shot.” People interested in target shooting could be socialized to use a bow and arrow or air rifle. When offering these types of substitute products, it’s important to link the meanings that consumers associate with guns to the alternative product. For instance, people who associate guns with safety from criminals and with responsibility as a protector of their children will only consider alternative products — such as security systems, pepper spray, or jujitsu training — if they are socialized to view these alternatives as safer and more responsible choices. In general, consumer socialization that centers on an activity (such as recreation or personal protection) done with something other than a firearm offers the potential of reduced risk of harm to the people doing the activity and to people who are nearby.
Do you see parallels with public safety issues related to other consumer products?
Michelle: There are some parallels to socialization around cars. We are socialized by family, the media, advertising, society, to think about cars as essential for independence, for everyday life. Car companies design vehicles that offer high speed and acceleration, sophisticated infotainment systems, and safety systems for occupants. But speed, distracted driving, and large, heavy designs put people outside the car, such as pedestrians and cyclists, at greater risk of injury. Thinking about public safety with consumer products means thinking not just about the consumer using it, but about everyone — including nonusers — who could be harmed by the product’s use.
Thank you very much for this conversation — it helps me see an opportunity to reduce gun violence by advocating for consumers and holding the gun industry accountable for its role in making this dangerous consumption ideology.
For further reading about the intersection of gun violence and consumerism, Aimee, Brett, and Michelle suggested picking up a copy of “Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy,” by Jennifer Carlson. This book explores how gun stores and shooting ranges normalize gun ownership and open minds to radical interpretations of the Second Amendment. I highly recommend it, too.
If you want to learn more about the economic history of the gun industry, we recommend “The Gunning of America: Business and the Making of American Gun Culture,” by Pamela Haag. I recently ordered a copy of Matthew Lacombe’s “Firepower: How the NRA Turned Gun Owners Into a Political Force.”
