Would gun marketing control be more effective than gun control?

[krispos42]

9. I think the hysteria about them sells them far more than marketing does

California Democrats in 1989 decided to declare war on "assault weapon". National Democrats quickly followed, with a Federal ban in 1993.

Just like the War on Drugs, it worked like a charm. AR-15s became more common, higher quality, and cheaper.

Turns out that hysterically screaming about the need to ban "assault weapons" to all the major media outlets tends to make AR-15s and the like household names, and to drive interest and then sales of them up.

The rifle industry didn't triple because Bushmaster was advertising in "Maxim" magazine. No, the media attention brought far more public attention to them than Smith&Wesson could buy in a century.