The Ford Motor Company continues to enjoy great success with the F150 pickup, which remains at the absolute top of the domestic vehicle food chain. AR manufacturers have also seen great sales numbers in the last couple of years, with ever greater numbers of first-time gun buyers contributing to those sales. In fact, despite the truck's tremendous popularity, the AR15 outsold the F150 in 2020 (and will likely do so again).
One of these achievements is lauded, the other vilified.
Market Success Praiseworthy Only When Politically Suitable
Not too long ago, we saw a very interesting report from the firearms industry's trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). That release highlighted the popularity of the "modern sporting rifle", or what most of us refer to as the AR-15, civilian model AKM type rifles, and other long guns.
The trade group reported that these firearms have seen sales greater than all the Ford F-150s on the road today. In fact, some 4.5 million AR-15s/AK-47s have been sold just since 2020, when President Joe Biden called for a ban on those firearms.
It should be further noted that last December, it was announced that Ford Motor's F-Series pickup truck had remained the best-selling vehicle in the United States for the 40th straight year AND has been the industry's top-selling truck for 45 consecutive years.
A total of 726,004 F-Series trucks were sold out of dealerships last year. The venerable pick-up's popularity can't be overstated.
Also worth noting is that the large forward-heavy weight of the F-150 makes it more prone to rollovers and spinning out than other vehicles. In addition, a 2020 report from the Lending Tree website, ValuePenguin.com declared the F-150 to be “the most deadly vehicle” in the United States. More than ten thousand fatalities have been recorded from vehicle accidents involving F150 trucks between 2015 and 2020. That number does not include injuries that were survived.
Despite these statistics, the popularity of one of these products has led to praise as an American success story. The popularity of the other contributes to its incessant condemnation. This vitriol wasn't just in the 2022 midterms, either, but every day, at every possible opportunity, however contrived).
Another recent report, this one from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, noted that five manufacturers – including Daniel Defense, Smith & Wesson, Sturm Ruger, Sig Sauer, and Bushmaster – collectively earned more than $1 billion in revenue from sales of firearms to civilians over the past decade.
These sales were completely legal, typically with background checks conducted.
Despite the continuing decline of the US economy, no nods were made to this success. In fact, the opposite occurred. The companies' marketing efforts were called into question, suggesting that firearms are marketed to teens and young men "who are attracted to violence and military fantasies."
"The business practices of these gun manufacturers are deeply disturbing, exploitative and reckless," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York and chair of the committee, said in a statement. "These companies use aggressive marketing tactics to target young people — especially young men."
The Firearms Industry And The Truth
What is also noteworthy is that this isn't the first time U.S. lawmakers have had a product in their sights. In the past, oil companies, tobacco companies, and even automobile makers have been under the spotlight. But it is fair to say those companies lied.
Big oil concealed findings on the impact of carbon emissions and climate change, tobacco companies hid data on the safety of its products, and the automobile company tried to suggest leaded gasoline was safe. The firearms industry largely admits its products are extremely dangerous if not used properly. Big trucks and tobacco are still marketed to young men, and dozens of questionable products are still marketed to young people.
This is part of how the capitalist system works.
Not too long ago, the U.S. House of Representatives voted narrowly, largely on party lines, to ban the sale and manufacture of some semi-automatic firearms. Democrats argued that the Constitution did not protect such firearms and that those guns have become a favored tool used by mass shooters to kill large numbers of people.
"The assault weapons ban would take the weapons of war off our streets and save countless lives," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).
The issue of weapons of war aside – which the civilian AR-15 most certainly isn't – as the NSSF and other gun rights supporters correctly point out, millions of these firearms have been sold to law-abiding citizens. According to NSSF estimates, some 24,456,000 modern sporting rifles (MSRs) are now owned by American citizens, yet only an extremely small fraction of those have been used for nefarious purposes.
To put that in perspective, HotCars.com – a site that one would argue is very "car-friendly" – cited ValuePenguin.com's findings, and noted that there were 10,845 fatal crashes involving the Ford F-Series between 2015 and 2020. Moreover, there have also been numerous studies that these large trucks are dangerous to other vehicles on the road but are also dangerous in parking lots as the driver can't often see children or shorter individuals.
Few lawmakers have called for the F-150, or other similar vehicles, to be banned. This is not at all to say they should be banned, far from it. This is just to demonstrate the inconsistency and hyperbole involved. One completely legal product is called out while others are not.
Not Immune to Lawsuits
Another issue is that lawmakers largely suggest that the gun industry is somehow protected. In his attempts to sway lawmakers and the American people, President Joe Biden made the dubious claim that the firearms industry was immune to lawsuits.
The "folks" – to use one of Biden's favorite "go-to" terms – at Remington Arms would likely disagree. That gun maker was essentially sued out of existence. It declared bankruptcy after being forced to pay $73 million to the families of five children and four adults killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting.
The particular firearm used in those murders was essentially stolen by a deranged individual. It is doubtful that Ford would have faced a lawsuit had he instead stolen his mother's F-150.
Moreover, Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc., can't be sued if a drunk driver uses one of their vehicles to cause damage or injury. Only as part of the infrastructure bill was there even talk of ensuring that drunk drivers couldn't get behind the wheel. It should also be noted that as it stands, you need to be 18 years old to purchase and even operate an AR without adult supervision.
There are plenty of 16-year-olds behind the wheels of those massive trucks.
"There are a lot of objects that kill more often than AR-15s—knives, hammers, fists, and F-150s," explained Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, in an email to this author.
"Yet, ironically, it's only the 'gun' which draws the ire of the anti-gun left," warned Pratt. "Like all socialists, they hate an armed populace, so they want to repeal the Second Amendment, confiscate 'scary' guns they don't like, and bankrupt the gun industry through frivolous lawsuits. Ultimately, their goal is not gun control; it's people control."
There may be some final irony in all this. Gun sales have remained strong – and at pre-pandemic levels – largely in part to such calls for gun control.
"With the House voting to ban the AR-15 as a part of renewing the assault weapons ban, people are scurrying to buy one before they are no longer available," said senior lecturer Kenneth Gray, Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven, also via an email. "Last time owners of weapons were grandfathered in and they could keep them."
As a result, it is easy to see how President Joe Biden could be proclaimed the firearms industry's best salesman. Perhaps some at the Big Three automakers would like him to call for a ban on their products next.
