Everytown’s Smoking Gun Takes Aim at Company Promoting Youth Shooting Sports

Everytown’s “Smoking Gun” website is dedicated to portraying the firearms industry in the most negative light possible under the banner of “exposing the gun industry’s role in gun violence today.” They’ll breathlessly parrot the claims of their parent organization that gun dealers are making hundreds of millions of dollars from “straw purchases” and “unlicensed dealing”, describe suppressors as “quiet killers”, and even complain about gun makers and sellers offering Black Friday deals. 

The latest hit piece from the anti-gunners at Smoking Gun takes aim at a company called Mountain Billy Gun Lab, which used to be known as Wee-1 Tactical. The company’s “JR-15” .22 rimfire rifle designed for junior shooters led to widespread outrage among gun control supporters, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who seized on the gun to push for a law that makes it illegal to design or market a firearm for juveniles. That law was put on ice by the Ninth Circuit, but if groups like Everytown had their way Mountain Billy Gun Lab would be looking at a mountain of trouble for designing and selling a gun that appeals to parents looking for a good way to introduce their kids to safe and responsible gun handling. 

Since rebranding, Mountain Billy Gun Lab has expanded the GOAT-15 series to include short-barreled rifle and pistol variants, and updated its website to state that the weapons are “great” for “first time shooting” and “family range days” in addition to hiking and competitive shooting. The GOAT-15 product pages emphasize that the guns are “approachable,” “accessible,” and “new shooter friendly.”

While the company’s website only hints at children using its scaled-down AR-15s, its Instagram page makes the connection more explicit. In recent weeks, Mountain Billy Gun Lab has shared and reposted several Instagram videos, like the kind shown below, depicting children firing GOAT-15 rifles and pistols.

Note that the company has “shared and reposted” Instagram videos, not created that content on its own. These videos, all of which show juveniles obeying the fundamental rules of gun safety while under the watchful eye of an adult, aren’t just word-of-mouth advertising for Mountain Billy Gun Lab. They’re real world examples of parents teaching their kids about how to be safe and responsible with firearms while having a fun day at the range. If Everytown was a real “gun safety” group, it would be thrilled with what these parents are doing. Instead, Everytown’s Smoking Gun is bashing the gun maker for its “youth centered marketing.” 

Mountain Billy Gun Lab’s trajectory suggests that the rebrand was never about abandoning the JR-15’s legacy, but about weathering the storm long enough to resume the same strategy under a less radioactive name.

Yes, a strategy of building firearms that can be used to introduce the next generation to the shooting sports, safe gun handling, hunting, and just the sheer joy of plinking. The only difference between the GOAT-15 (or its JR-15 predecessor) and the Crickett rifle I used to teach my own kids is that the GOAT-15 is based on a modern sporting rifle platform and isn’t a single shot rifle. 

That’s a distinction without a difference as far as the gun control lobby is concerned. The California law that made it illegal to market firearms to youth (or their parents) didn’t contain any carveout for single-shot rimfire rifles. Marketing a gun like the Crickett as a way to introduce your kids to the fun of shooting was just as prohibited as an ad telling 8-year-olds that cool kids use [insert the gunmaker of your choice here]. 

The anti-gunners aren’t just intent on going after the guns we currently own. Their goal is the eradication of the right to keep and bear arms, and one of their strategies is to reduce the number of gun owners in the future. They must hate the fact that high school trap clubs and youth shooting programs sponsored by groups like the 4H are growing by leaps and bounds, and we know they can’t stand the thought of a mom or dad using a .22 rimfire rifle based on the AR platform to teach their kids how to be safe and responsible with a firearm. Today’s high school trap shooter or a kid who enjoys plinking with her parents could very well become an adult gun owner (and Second Amendment advocate) in the future, and anti-gun groups like Everytown are intent on stopping that from happening.   

Editor’s Note: The gun control lobby and their allies in the media continue to lie about gun owners and the Second Amendment. 

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