The JR-15, a ‘scaled down AR-15,’ should trouble parents, experts say - The Washington Post

On Thursday, a radical of Democratic senators pushed for much scrutiny, asking the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into the company’s selling practices.

“The instrumentality says you shouldn’t beryllium selling guns to kids,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

The FTC declined to comment.

The improvement and selling of rifles similar the JR-15 comes amid a diminution successful hunting arsenic a hobby, which is however astir weapon owners were traditionally talented their archetypal weapon, experts told The Washington Post. These firearms, they say, unfastened up a unsafe pathway for weapon companies to spot tactical and acold much lethal weapons successful the hands of children who are inactive psychologically and physiologically maturing astatine that property — each successful the hopes of cultivating the adjacent procreation of American weapon owners who volition proceed to money the industry.

“This is simply a melodramatic measurement guardant successful that not lone person [Schmid Tool and WEE1 Tactical] manufactured an battle firearm for children, but they designed the advertizing to entreaty straight to kids,” Josh Sugarmann, the enforcement manager of the Violence Policy Center, told The Post.

The companies described the JR-15 arsenic “designed with the information and functionality to assistance adults wishing to supervise the instauration of hunting and shooting sports to the adjacent procreation of liable owners,” and said retailers enthusiastically responded to the merchandise aft its launch.

It’s unclear however galore of these rifles, if any, the companies person sold since its release. Regulations acceptable by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shield weapon manufacturers from having to disclose the fig of guns produced and sold crossed the country. Heidi Schaefer, a spokeswoman for the companies, did not respond to an emailed question astir the fig of JR-15s sold since its motorboat oregon to a question astir a imaginable FTC probe.

The JR-15 made its archetypal nationalist quality past January astatine the SHOT amusement successful Las Vegas, what immoderate would telephone the car amusement of guns.

Attendees gathered astir a corner booth with “JR-15” successful large bold letters connected a greenish banner to presumption the .22 caliber firearm displayed connected its walls. Eric Schmid, the proprietor of Schmid Tool, described the firearm arsenic a “scaled down AR-15” made retired of polymer and weighing 2.2 pounds.

“It’s astir a 20 percent simplification successful size, truthful it fits the kids truly good and that volition springiness them the assurance to clasp this happening the mode they should person assurance holding this thing,” Schmid told an attendee. Schmid did not respond to a connection from The Post.

The backlash aft its motorboat was swift. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called the JR-15 “vile” successful a tweet.

Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the gun’s advertizing was “sickening” portion holding a poster of it for lawmakers connected the House floor. “Here is an advertisement for a JR-15, designed to beryllium a alleged ‘smaller, safer, lighter version’ of the horrific AR-15, which has been utilized to execution truthful galore of their playmates and friends,” Pelosi said. “Look astatine these small skulls with ponytails.”

Then, silence.

The institution took down the JR-15’s website, deleted its archetypal quality merchandise and went into virtual hibernation. Not overmuch was said astir the firearm until it re-emerged astatine this year’s SHOT amusement successful Las Vegas with a muted website, selling run and booth, conscionable days aft constabulary accidental a 6-year-old student pulled out his mother’s pistol and changeable his teacher astatine a Virginia simple school. A weapon that was erstwhile among the astir scanned products of the 2022 SHOT amusement was not mentioned successful this year’s league website.

The rebranding of its selling run was a merchandise of lawsuit feedback, Schaefer, the companies’ spokeswoman, told The Post successful an email.

“We listened to their input and implicit the past twelvemonth person made it clearer successful our selling materials that our merchandise is simply a grooming rifle, which person been disposable for decades,” she said.

With little hunting, the weapon manufacture present markets sports rifles to American families funny successful bonding portion shooting astatine ranges and competitions, said Daniel Webster, a prof astatine Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wherever helium leads the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy.

Even if the companies person toned down their advertizing of the weapon, Webster worries astir the semipermanent effects of giving children a firearm similar the JR-15.

“What [these guns] mean rather honestly is acold much than here’s immoderate household hobby benignant of thing,” Webster said. “What they mean is powerfulness — the powerfulness to kill. You springiness retired a highly lethal limb that is precise casual for them to sprout … It could acceptable the signifier for atrocious outcomes.”

As the companies effort to merchantability the JR-15, gun-control groups are pursuing ineligible enactment against large weapon manufacturers.

Nick Suplina, elder vice president of instrumentality and argumentation for Everytown for Gun Safety, called the JR-15 a “disgusting” illustration of however the weapon manufacture continues to marketplace to kids alternatively of making weapons safer.

Others similar Ryan Busse, a erstwhile firearms enforcement and present a elder advisor to the gun-control radical founded by erstwhile congresswoman Gabby Giffords, doesn’t spot an contented with children and teens owning rifles for sporting events. Busse said his dada had a firearm erstwhile helium was a kid, helium had 1 arsenic a kid excessively and present his children sprout with him.

The issue, Busse told The Post, has to bash with what benignant of firearm children are taught to shoot.

“One should beryllium precise disquieted that they are taught to bash this with a tactical, violative limb of warfare [that is] scaled down,” Busse said. “Lots of different rifles tin beryllium purchased and beryllium effectual grooming tools for kids. Why this one? Because it has the unsafe right-wing authorities wrapped astir it.”

He would not bargain a JR-15 for his kids, Busse said. “I don’t request a high-capacity limb of warfare to sprout targets and hunt with my boys.”

John Woodrow Cox contributed to this report.