By Robert MacMillan, Newsbytes
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A.,
10 Jan 2002, 11:08 AM CST
The Federal Trade Commission today
acknowledged it has received a written request from a new gun-safety organization
asking the agency to expand its post-Sept. 11 probe of false and misleading
Web advertising claims to include firearms Web sites.
The agency said today it is giving the matter "serious consideration."
"We take the letters that we receive
very seriously, and we're giving it serious consideration," said FTC spokesman
Derick Rill. "If asked to respond we will."
A project under the Alliance for Justice,
Gun Industry Watch said in its letter that gun makers should be held to the
same standards as Web sites that claim to offer protection from biological
and nuclear agents.
"By the FTC's own guidelines, the claims
of gun makers that their products will enhance safety and security are neither
true nor can they be substantiated by evidence," said Alliance for Justice
President Nan Aron. "It is the FTC's responsibility to protect American consumers
by investigating misleading and dangerous advertising by gun makers and retailers."
Alliance for Justice spokeswoman Julie
Bernstein said that the group does not believe in outlawing all guns or firearms,
but said that gun manufacturers and
sellers, as well as the National Rifle Association and other lobby groups,
should crack down on firearms merchants who make false claims about their
products as potential safety devices against post-Sept. 11 threats.
The organization cited the case of
one company, Ithaca Gun, which advertises a "homeland security rifle," saying
that "It is produced to protect our homes, our neighborhood and our nation
throughout this dark time in our history."
A perusal of Ithaca Gun's Web site
shows that the homeland security rifle is, in fact, a shotgun, the Ithaca
Gun Model 37, which it says was used by U.S. troops
both in Korea and Vietnam.
"In every respect, these new Homeland
Security Model shotguns are up to the demanding tasks that lay before us
as a nation," the site advertises.
Ithaca Gun representatives were not available for comment.