Handgun group asks FTC to ban firearm ads

Handgun group asks FTC to ban firearm ads

04/08/96

WASHINGTON, D.C.–The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence and other groups in late March petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to ban certain firearms advertisements which they claim are “false” and “deceptive.”

The advertisements under attack claim that bringing a gun into the home increases personal security. According to Dennis Henigan, director of legal action at CPHV, studies show that bringing a gun into a home does not make it safer, which means the ads are misleading. Henigan noted that there is no First Amendment right to engage in false advertising.

The American Shooting Sports Council, Inc., contested the petition, telling the FTC the attempted ban is an attack on First Amendment rights protecting commercial speech about a legal product.

The FTC has told the CPHV that it will investigate the claims, according to Henigan.

The other groups petitioning the FTC are: the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association of Suicidology, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions.