AR-15 style guns sold as a sign of manhood as shootings rise

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. House investigation has found that gun manufacturers have taken in more than $1 billion from selling AR-15-style guns over the past decade. And sales of those rifles, sometimes marketed to young males as a sign of manhood, have been rising, according to a report unveiled Wednesday. The revenue has come as such weapons have been used in mass shootings that have horrified the nation, including one that left 10 people dead at a grocery store in Buffalo and another where 19 children and two teachers were shot to death in Uvalde, Texas. Firearm company CEOs testified at a committee hearing that their products are legal and they are horrified by violence but guns themselves aren’t to blame.