In America, television advertising isn’t commonly used to promote the sale of firearms. But that might soon change, as two Californian entrepreneurs are planning to launch a 24 hour shopping channel for guns.
The channel will be called GunTV. It will make use of the tag line “Live Shopping. Fully Loaded.”, and it will offer a “vast array of firearms”, as well as associated items like bullets, holsters and two-way radios.
The project was created by veterans of the home shopping industry Valerie Castle and Doug Bornstein. The duo believes that selling guns on TV is an untapped market.
GunTV is expected to make its debut on national satellite and cable TV providers starting January 20 of the upcoming year. Initially, it will only air for six hours per day, but it is planning to transition to a 24 hour broadcast by the start of 2017.
Currently, there are no restrictions for advertising guns on television, although individual networks can choose to reject such advertisements.
With several recent shootings that have taken place, Americans have been racing to purchase guns. The uncertainty about gun laws, along with the fear of being the victim of a shooting, has resulted in people lining up to buy firearms. Following the recent mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA, gun shops across the country have had lines flowing out the door.
GunTV will be filmed at a studio in Palm Springs, CA. This city is just 50 miles away from the site of the deadly massacre that occurred last week.
While many people are uneasy about the idea of GunTV, Castle and Bornstein have insisted that the channel will put a strong emphasis on gun safety. In fact, every hour, an eight minute segment will broadcast safety messages.
Of course, gun safety won’t be the only topic. Other planned segments will cover topics such as how to fashionably carry a firearm and guns for big-game hunting and camping.
The founders of GunTV have not yet responded to requests for comments on the situation.
Obviously, GunTV will put many restrictions in place for purchasing a gun. When a weapon is purchased, a distributor will send it to the participating retailer that is located closest to the buyer. From there, the weapon must be picked up in person, where a federal background check will be performed.
Time will tell if GunTV will prove to be a successful endeavor. But with the decline of cable and satellite television in general, it could very well just be a big waste of time.
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