On the Instagram page of the Wee1Tactical brand, the comments under the promotional photos of rifles are quite edifying: “definitely need to get the kids these” (it is absolutely necessary that I buy some for the children) “the kiddos are waiting !! (the children are waiting!!). Mixing weapons and the innocence of children, it may come as a surprise. But the Wee1Tactical company intends to use this niche to its advantage. Their website states that the rifle is “the first of many weapons that will help adults introduce children to the sport of shooting safely”, and that they will be able to buy their child a rifle “like the mum and dad’s weapon.
The JR-15 (for “Junior”), 80 cm, less than a kilo, was marketed in mid-January at a price of 389 dollars. The adult model, the AR-15, is the most used weapon for mass killings that have taken place in the United States, especially in schools. It is the symbol of the debates about firearms in the country. It was notably used in the Las Vegas shootings in 2017, the deadliest in the country’s recent history with 58 dead, or Parkland High School in Florida (17 dead) in 2018.
“At first glance, it looks like a grotesque farce. On closer inspection, it’s just grotesque,” Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, which fights gun violence, commented on Friday. The Newtown Action Alliance, a pro-gun control group, condemned the gun lobby and gun manufacturers for “doing everything to keep making profits”.
Josh Sugarmann also criticized the marketing used by the company: a pirate skull with an Iroquois cut or blond pigtails, a pacifier in the mouth. In his report on the methods of American arms manufacturers to attract young people published in 2016, he denounced the weapons painted with bright colors – pink, red, orange or metallic purple – appreciated by young audiences, and lighter to handle.
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