Photo credit: Courtesy of the National Shooting Sports Foundation

When Igor Volsky, the co-founder and executive director of Guns Down America, a gun-control group dedicated to building a future with fewer guns, saw an article in The New York Times claiming that gun manufacturers are suddenly (more on that in a moment) marketing to women and minorities, he showcased his ignorance about America and our freedom in a series of tweets:

1/ Gun makers are softening their image to put a better face in front of people & ramp up its appeal to women, children and members of minority groups, wrote Volsky.Thats right: Gun makers are increasingly advertising to WOMEN, CHILDREN & MINORITY COMMUNITIES.

Volsky then tweeted: 2/ Firearm industry realizes that to survive into the future it must broaden its reach beyond the aging white men who have been its core customers -- and so theyre now trying to sell their products to other demographics. This is incredibly dangerous.

Reading the reaction on Twitter is amusing, as a lot of people called Volsky out on his views.

i am a minority woman and i want to buy a gun because i am unsafe living alone in my neighborhood. i also hunt goat, deer and pig so i might want my own gun one day instead of just compound bow. why is it wrong for me to have a gun? said someone with the username Eat ule.

One of the most exciting things to watch in the firearms community for the last 20 years is how much more inclusive it's become. If you are on the fence about buying a gun or learning how to use one, dont delay any longer! No matter who you are, gun people will welcome you, tweeted Nathan Lewis.

The demographics of gun ownership are changing in America (see, The Rise of the Woman Gun Owner), as more people embrace their freedom. Still, it isnt truthful to say that firearms manufacturers have only recently begun marketing to women. Companies, such as Colt, Savage Arms and Remington, have long run ads designed to specifically appeal to women.

An ad for the Savage Model 1907, a semi-automatic pistol made from 1907-1920, for example, showed a photo of a woman in a nightgown firing this Savage pistol. Under the photo was the ad copy: Her propertyher little onesher own lifeshe knows are safely protected when she has a Savage Automatic in her home. She knows its ten sure shots are at her commandquick or slow, as she choosesone to each trigger pull.

This articleshowcases just a few of the ads gun manufacturers ran over the last century and moreas they marketed guns to women.

But Volsky didnt just get this history wrong, he also said selling guns to women and minorities is incredibly dangerous. This sounds like both sexism and racism, as Volsky seems to be saying he doesnt think women and minorities are capable of handling their Second Amendment freedom.

A lot of female and minority gun-rights advocates did call Volsky out on his views. Maj Toure, head ofBlack Guns Matter, said, Imagine being either so uninformed on the racist roots of gun control or so full of yourself that you would not only think but also believe that melinated Americans owning guns would be incredibly dangerous. I wonder what he thinks of the thousands of melinated law-enforcement officers and military personnel that carry firearms to protect life as well?

Originally posted here:

A Tweet Shows How Scared Gun-Control Activists are of Women and Minorities Enjoying Their Freedom - America's 1st Freedom