U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney said the top five U.S. arms manufacturers have generated more than $1 billion in revenue from assault rifle sales in 10 years.
“The IR-15 semi-automatic rifles are “very lethal weapons designed to take down enemy soldiers on the battlefield,” Maloney said at the start of congressional hearings on the weapon in light of rising gun violence.
“However, the[arms manufacturing]sector has flooded our neighborhoods, schools and even churches and displaced us with these deadly weapons and enriched them,” she added.
She said this while discussing the profit made from using “dangerous marketing tactics” that targeted the “fears of youth”.
She noted that Ruger, the main manufacturer of IR-15 rifles, has generated more than $100 million in revenue from the sale of this type of rifle in 2021, more than double what it did in 2020, and the Daniel Defense Company has doubled in size. these weapons tripled between 2019 and 2021.
In testimonies via video link, executives from the two companies condemned the gun-toting bloodshed while refusing to hold them responsible for it.
“Our country should not respond to weapons, but to people it suspects of mass murder,” Daniel Defense CEO Marty Daniel said in a statement.
A Texas high school shooter used one of the company’s weapons when he killed 21 people last May.
Lawmakers are expected to vote later this week to ban assault rifles. Barring a major surprise, a bill backed by President Joe Biden is expected to fail in the Senate, where ten Republicans must be enlisted. Republicans cling to Americans’ right to own guns.
Source: AFP