From sex, safety, to stereotypes about masculinity, here's a collection of what gun ads look like today and how they've evolved in the last century.
Adam Lanza brandished a Bushmaster AR-15 when he murdered 27 women and small children in Newtown. This is how that weapon is marketing to the general public. Magazine ads equate owning the gun to being a man.
Bushmaster's "man card" campaign is two years old. The website asks consumers to "prove" they're a man by answering a series of questions.
This unfortunate screen grab depicts Bushmaster revoking someone's "man card" for being intimidated by elementary school students.
Of course, not all gun ads bait customers by questioning their masculinity. This Smith & Wesson ad, for example, only highlights the product's features and functionality.
In fact, early gun advertising from the 1900s and 1910s simply touted the benefits of the gun itself. It ignored what the gun was actually for.
Iver Johnson Revolvers were marketed as "absolutely safe" with "accidental discharge impossible."
In the 1920s and 30s, the marketing focus shifted to emphasize hunting.
Hunting is still a main focus of gun ads today.
But the true shift came in the 1940s. World War II inspired gun advertising aimed at civilians, likening them to soldiers.
The military-theme has persisted in modern firearm ads.
If it's good enough for a soldier, it's good enough for your gun cabinet.
This army-themed ad for Savage Arms, however, has a darker undertone. The ad reads, "One shot one kill."
This Remington ad says, "Attention Politicians: Over 5,000,000 sold. The world's largest army ain't in China."
Gun marketing embraces the notion that guns give civilians their only chance of survival in a dangerous world.
It's kill or be killed.
Even this ad for a flashlight in a gun magazine uses the same messaging. This Surefire ad reads, "Make sure your flashlight, not just your firearm, is up to the task ... It was built to provide you with the visual data, and the blinding effect, to get those 1.4 seconds right."
Gun ads reach out to various ethnicities...
... and genders.
Gun ads target women with the promise that gun ownership counteracts victimhood.
Forget diamonds, a Glock is a girl's best friend.
Other guns appeal to women's fashion sense. This little number also comes in "frost white."
Then there's the argument that guns are just plain old fun.
But other ads use scare tactics. This ad, which appeared on various gun blogs, urges fathers to arm their daughters, claiming it's their best protection against rapists with AIDS.
Guns have historically been marketed to boys as a rite of passage into manhood.
The general idea was to start boys when they're young.
The NRA currently advertises this branded foam rocket gun toy for kids on its web site.