Thread by @ryandbusse

🧵Colorado Springs, hate, guns, and the sickness on the American Right. Yes, it has changed and here is a recent history

Prior to 2007, American gun culture was generally focused on hunting, target shooting, and self-defense. Here is a graph of gun sales over the last 20 years:

I was in the industry from '95-2020 and up until about 2006, while there certainly were a few "military type" or "assault" weapons sold, they were not the focus of the industry. In fact, the display & marketing of this "tactical" gear was frowned upon if not explicitly prohibited

The country's politics were much the same. From 1980 to 2007, there were dark corners, but Obama's win pushed the ugliness into the light. The NRA lead much of it, celebrating birtherism & conspiracy. The industry responded by welcoming companies who marketed directly to it all:

The Right & emerging gun culture sensed powerful symbiosis. Young men were told to be offensive culture warriors - just buy the gear of soldiers and adopt the politics of hate. By 2018, there were new gun companies with growth strategies centered on using guns "against the left"

And when that scene played out - and a young man dressed just like those guys in that ad and carried his guns just like the badass culture warriors, he was celebrated as a conquering hero by the Right and by the Gun Industry after killing two in Kenosha.

And of course, enterprising Trump acolytes, fans, and rivals saw the political advantage to ginning up the base. Some attack Jewish people (Tree of Life shooting), Some attack immigrants, (El Paso Walmart Shooting), and several attack the same community targeted in CO Springs:

Now our country has an obvious problem; creating/arming troubled culture warriors. Just like the Buffalo shooter who bought body armor & AR15 to use in battle against African Americans, the CO Springs Killer did the same against LBGTQ community.

These are not freak accidents.