When it comes to selling AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles, gunmakers have discovered that there's no better endorsement than the American soldier.

"Never a victim. Always the victor," reads an ad that runs in April's "Guns & Ammo" magazine from the Springfield Armory, showing an image of a couple of helmeted gunmen in GI-looking gear. "Patriot," reads another showing what appears to be a commando wielding the "professional grade weaponry" of Bravo Company Manufacturing.

Military imagery in advertising – a surefire selling point when it comes to high-power weaponry – has cropped up as a trouble spot for the weapons industry.

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled this month that victims of a mass shooting in 2012 at a Newton, Connecticut, elementary school could sue the maker of the rifle used in the attack over its advertising.

Among the suit's claims is that Bushmaster and other gunmaker defendants "promote their AR-15s by advertising that the most elite branches of the military – including Special Forces, SEALs, Green Berets and Army Rangers – have used them."

Though opponents say plaintiffs face steep odds in pressing such cases, it's the kind of situation that could put a chilling effect on gun advertisers.

Gun industry officials don't sound worried. The state court split 4-3 in making its decision, which is likely to be appealed.

Still, the decision is another setback for gun enthusiasts who tried this week to stop the Trump administration from enforcing a ban against bump stocks – which can rig semiautomatics to spew bullets like a fully automatic weapon. The U.S. Supreme Court declined a bid to block the ban, which went into effect Tuesday.

A weapon of choice

Gun control advocates have singled out semiautomatics such as the AR-15 because they have become the weapon of choice in mass shootings such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in which 20 children and six adults were gunned down. The case involves a suit by victims against Remington Arms and related companies, which made the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle that gunman Adam Lanza used in the attack.

The problem, the plaintiffs' lawyers said, is that young men can be obsessed with the military or succumb to the image of masculinity that the ads promise if they buy the semiauto rifles.

"Consider Your Man Card Reissued," reads a Bushmaster ad for its AR-15-style gun, the kind used in the Sandy Hook shooting. The ad speaks to a "macho hyper-masculinity," said one of the attorneys, Katie Mesner-Hage.

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Another Bushmaster ad reads, "Force of Opposition, Bow Down: You are Single-Handedly Outnumbered."

"The advertising isn't misleading. It's actually extremely accurate," Mesner-Hage said. "It's a military weapon. It's inciteful, reckless advertising." The AR-15 is meant to serve "one purpose, which is to inflict as many casualties in combat" as possible, she said.

The bow-down ad states the Bushmaster is "the only rifle you need to master the infinite number of extreme scenarios you'll face in the worlds of law enforcement and personal defense."

Some retailers pull back

About half of the customers of AR-15-style weapons are current or former police officers and members of the military, and ads that show soldiers in action to denote the guns are of the highest quality, said Larry Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group.

Blaming the semiautomatic rifle for mass shootings is like suing automakers when terrorists use cars to mow down innocent people, Keane said. In the case of Lanza, who took his own life, there is no evidence that he was influenced by gun advertising. The rifle had been given to him by his mother.

As for the masculine nature of the ads, men are predominantly the buyers of the AR-15. Advertising directly to them is no different from ads for power tools, which usually show men, Keane said.

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He said gunmakers are limited as to where they can advertise their high-powered weapons. Many mainstream publications and online channels, such as Facebook, won't take them.

Some retailers have pulled back as well. Dick's Sporting Goods, one of the few national sporting good chains left after an industry shakeout, announced last year after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that it would stop selling assault-style weapons, high-capacity magazines or any guns to anyone under the age of 21.

This month, Dick's said it will go further, removing all guns, including those for hunting, from 125 stores in response to slow sales.

John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and author of several books, including "More Guns, Less Crime," said buyers of guns such as AR-15s aren't intent on killing. More often than not, they want the guns for personal protection, he said.

They are unlikely to shoot if attacked, knowing the mere sight of the weapon is enough to deter an assailant, he said.

The industry's ads don't depict illegal acts, Lott said. Even in the bow-down ad, he said, "they talk about law enforcement and (using it) for personal defense. They are not going out and killing people in that ad."

Contributing: The Associated Press