Paranoia and Profit: Armed Extremism and the Gun Industry’s Role in Fostering It

By Everytown for Gun Safety

Racist shooters in Buffalo, Allen, Charleston, El Paso and Jacksonville turn grocery stores, outlet malls, churches, Walmarts, and Dollar General stores into scenes of mass carnage; antisemitic extremists attack synagogues; heavily-armed militia members plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan; far-right groups and individuals openly march with guns to intimidate political opposition.

These incidents underscore the alarming trend of political and hate-motivated gun violence confronting the United States. One sector has accelerated this trend of armed extremism while simultaneously profiting from it: the firearms industry. The industry and its lobbying apparatus have for decades warned target audiences of unhinged existential threats all around them, from supposed criminal hordes threatening their homes to tyrannical bureaucrats threatening their rights. They politically and financially support candidates for office and elected officials who have echoed those conspiracy theories, striking at the foundational pillars of American democracy, while eschewing gun laws that might keep military-grade arms out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

Toxic hate-filled ideas have gained unprecedented purchase in today’s political climate thanks to their embrace by gun lobby-backed political leaders. As a result, a small but alarming number of Americans see violence as a solution to political and cultural problems.1

In the face of these supposed threats, the firearms industry offers a single solution for those who feel at risk: guns, and the deadly violence they can achieve. The rhetoric in their advertising risks drawing the attention of those who see violence as inevitable or justified, including portrayals of their products as weapons used in war. It is clear that violent extremists see guns as important tools: Everytown has identified more than 200 extremists charged with a crime in recent years who allegedly used or possessed guns in the act, threatened or plotted gun violence, or illegally possessed or sold a firearm, an approximate average of one case charged every nine days. The vast majority of these cases involved extremists on the far right, and more than a quarter involved a crime in which a gun was fired or brandished.

New York: Everytown for Gun Safety, 2024. 43p.