Regulating firearm advertisements that promise home protection. A public health intervention
J. S. Vernick, S. P. Teret and D. W. Webster
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Center for Gun Policy and Research, Baltimore, Md 21205, USA.
Firearms are a consumer product responsible for 38500 deaths in the United
States in 1994. Like other products, firearms are advertised. In the
absence of rules governing the design of firearms, regulating the way guns
are advertised may be a useful public health intervention. Some gun
advertisements include messages suggesting that bringing a handgun into the
home is generally protective for the occupants of the home. The best
available scientific information contradicts this message. Given this
disjunction, regulating those advertisements may be an appropriate
response. Under federal law, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has
authority to prohibit advertisements that are "deceptive" or "unfair."
Under the FTC's deception analysis, the focus is on whether consumers are
misled by an advertisement. For a finding of unfairness, the FTC looks for
advertisements that may cause substantial injury to consumers. Under either
analysis, a strong argument can be made that firearm advertisements
promising home protection are unlawful. On February 14, 1996, several
organizations sent separate petitions to the FTC asking it to consider the
issues raised by firearm advertisements that promise home protection. The
FTC is still reviewing the information presented. There are no First
Amendment or Second Amendment impediments to FTC regulation of deceptive
firearm advertising under the US Constitution.
