God, Guns and Henry Rifles

Last Thursday, the New York Times reported on a new ad campaign by Henry Repeating Arms that references a statement made by then candidate Barack Obama to describe rural voters that believe in God and the right to keep and bear arms.

We at Henry Repeating Arms believe in our God given religious freedom and our right to bear arms. We are proud, not ashamed, to embrace two of our country’s greatest gifts. During this past presidential election folks like us were mocked for our beliefs, but we know better. It’s simple. We believe in God, Our Country and Our Freedoms. If you do too, we’d love to hear from you. If you don’t, that’s fine too - it’s another freedom we’re proud of, and we apologize if this ad has offended you.

According to the Post, Henry Repeating Arms, which is based in Bayonne, N.J., is one of the few gun makers that advertises to general audiences. The new ad has been accepted by national networks including CNBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. But Anthony Imperato, president at Henry told the post that some local cable system operators have rejected them apparently out of fear that including the image of the Bible and a gun in the same frame may offend some viewers. In the print media, acceptance varies widely.

It’s a very serious subject when you’re using the Bible in an ad, he explained — not to mention when you’re making statements like those in the text of the ad...

There's no denying that the election of Barack Obama has had the unintended outcome of making the firearms industry the only segment of the economy that has seen increases in sales every month since last October. Even though they have come down from the stratospheric levels seen between November and May, they are still running in the low double digits - levels that most other industries would love to see. It makes sense that a gun maker would continue to try and capitalize on that fact. It will be interesting to see how these ads are accepted by the general public. Henry makes the claim that their guns will "only be made in America or they won't be made at all." Here's hoping Henry continues to see success in their ad campaigns.