The gun is paying, but it kills

How can we qualify the stockbrokers who yesterday found it relevant to buy shares of firearms companies on the stock market? Greedy morons.

The gun is paying, but it kills

How can we qualify the stockbrokers who yesterday found it relevant to buy shares of firearms companies on the stock market? Greedy morons. Unconscious people. Fools. Heartless. Profiteers of human misery.

In the aftermath of the massacre in which at least 19 children and two adults fell under the bullets of a crazed gunman in a Texas elementary school, several stocks of American firearms companies ended the stock market session by climbing from 5 to 10%.

This means that in the aftermath of this monstrous event, there was a strong demand in the United States for the shares of firearms companies. It is beyond belief to see that the "gun market" was reinvigorated on the backs of the victims of this other appalling massacre on American soil, which occurs a week after that which occurred in Buffalo.

“Another massacre. [...] Why ? Why do we agree to live with this carnage? I'm fed up and tired [of all this],” said US President Joe Biden.

But what is he waiting for to act against the free sale of firearms? In his defense, Biden has so far been unable to get Congress to pass measures to regulate and control the sale of firearms to Americans, due to opposition from Republicans.

It must be said that in the United States, the lobby in favor of firearms is extremely powerful. The shootings (more than 300 since 2018) may have multiplied, but it passes over the back of the gun lobby like water running off the back of a duck.

Gun production has tripled in the United States since 2000. In the past 20 years, according to a Justice Department report cited by Le Monde and AFP, gun makers have produced more than 139 million for trade, including 11.3 million in 2020.

During this same period, 71 million firearms were imported.

BIG MONEY ISSUE

According to the NSSF (The Firearm Industry Trade Association), whose mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports, the economic impact of the American firearms and ammunition industry has increased by 269% since 2008, rising from $19 billion in 2008 to $70 billion in 2021.

During this 14-year period, the total number of jobs (full-time equivalents) increased from 166,000 to more than 375,819, an increase of 126%.

The NSSF says the firearms and ammunition industry paid more than $7.85 billion in business taxes in 2021, including property, income and sales taxes. Added to this tax windfall is an additional $1.1 billion that was paid in federal excise taxes.

POPULARITY

Notice to Joe Biden and all supporters of tighter government control of the sale of firearms in the United States: despite the staggering number of shootings, the popularity of firearms continues to grow.

Says Joe Bartozzi, CEO of NSSF: “The year-over-year growth in firearms and ammunition manufacturing shows that this industry continues to meet America's demand for legal gun ownership. »

Bartozzi says the U.S. firearms and ammunition industry "was proud to welcome" more than 5.4 million first-time gun buyers in 2021 alone.

Unfortunately, all it takes is one crazed would-be shooter to slip in among the buyers for another shootout to kill innocent people.

Long live a strict framework for the sale of firearms, it is more urgent than ever in the United States.

The Wild West has had its day!

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