The non-profit organization States United to Prevent Gun Violence created a PSA that involved opening a real-looking gun store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The sign on the store invited “first-time gun buyers to check it out.” Hidden cameras captured the curious passersby and their reactions when told of the history behind each gun.
Each gun in the shop has a tag with its history. When the gun shop owner shows a customer a piece, he relates the gun to the model used in particular mass shootings (Sandy Hook elementary school), unintentional shooting (2-year-old who killed mother accidentally in Walmart), homicides and suicides. The customers’ reactions to the information is difficult to describe. The purpose of the PSA is “to debunk the perception, held by 6 in 10 Ameriacns, that owning a firearm makes a home safer.” The spot was created by ad agency Grey, New York.
