'Gee Dad ... A Winchester!': Marketing Guns to the American Youth of Yore

[sysop]

In the wake of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, it seems grotesque. But gunmakers in the US used to advertise their deadly products directly to teenage boys, marketing them as the perfect Christmas present. And if the wife resisted, Winchester had the answer.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-874420.html

[gclaheh]

I have to respond to this. One thing that Germans don't know about is the culture of the US. The US had to be settled-especially in the west. There was no central government in places in the US before they officially joined the union as states. People who lived in the frontier couldn't call 911 if they faced danger because phones weren't invented and there were no policemen. Pioneers had to carry their own guns for their protection and safety. The issue now is should Americans be allowed to carry guns-even though they don't really need to carry them. Personally I believe that this decision should be decided by the local governments. Some places in the US are still very rural and there is no local police force and they should be allowed to carry weapons to protect themselves. Places where there are a lot of gang violence, a gun ban would be appropriate, but only if it would be enforced by the police.

[Jen101]

As an American, I am offended by the statements made in this article. There is no nonchalance when it comes to our right to possess firearms. This nation is currently divided about the issue and the tragedy in the Sandy Hook Elementary School has only exacerbated it. In a society where it is illegal to have guns, only criminals will have them, if there are consequences for irresponsible behavior, the behavior may be avoided. The problem is not in advertising, it is in the general public's perspective of guns. Our nation is attempting to find a less violent way of life. People are not violent because they possess guns, nor does access to them give way to violent acts. The guns are a tool, like a knife, a car, or a wrench; it is all in how they are used. Please, do not believe that all American's are nonchalant when it comes to something so precious as our way of life. Guns are for hunting, sport, and often simply collecting. The majority of gun owners are neither violent nor uneducated as is portrayed elsewhere. Passing along the traditions of being able to provide food for one's family or protecting one's family in the event of need are some reasons why American's own guns. Do those reasons sound nonchalant to you? People who are against guns believe that having one around will potentially lead to violence and so take a stance against them. Again, does that sound nonchalant to you?

[princeinpurplrayn]

Author Solveig Grothe, you should be ashamed at yourself.

This article is nothing but one tiny piece of the social anti-American machine Germany has churned out in the last decade. The topic of this article is absolutely un-newsworthy and totally irrelevant, yet the editors of der Spiegel thought it good enough to be posted to the English section of this site four days before Christmas. How disgusting. As an American, having lived in Germany for the last 3 years, I can feel how people buy into such propaganda as this (see - it's in Americans' BLOOD that they're GUN NUTS!) negatively affects my life here.

I'm part German (of course, this means nothing to you pure-bloods), and I've always loved the idea of one day living in Germany.. I never thought that I would come to rue that false idealistic idea. Why the hell didn't I move to a warmer country! Where the people don't have these weird ideas that you can tell is somewhere deep down there. Germans, apart from a few good friends I have met here along the way, have so many complexes it's almost indescipherable.

Of course, I'm not talking about just this article, it is but one of, well, pretty much all the articles about the U.S. in the Stern and Spiegel. Why don't you fully turn and embrace Russia and Putin, Germany? Go communist again - lord knows I've met enough people here who call themselves that.

Oh, and of course, this particular article mentions gun advertising focuses on young kids from the early 20th century. Really Solveig Grothe? Need I remind you what kind of messages Germany was sending to young kids at the same time?

Deutschbag

[coolblueice]

Now the teenage boy would be saying, "Gee Mom --- It's a Bushmaster!" shortly before he would pop a couple of rounds into her head while she slept, then would drive off in her car to murder 20 small children. My my, how times have changed.