Opening a Fake Gun Store on the Lower East Side to Make a Point (Updated)

Here’s something making the rounds on the internet today. It’s a public service announcement set in a fake gun store on the Lower East Side. The video was produced by an ad agency, Grey New York, and an organization called States United to Prevent Gun Violence. More from Ad Week:

They did what they’re calling “the unthinkable”—opened a real-looking gun store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and invited first-time gun buyers to check it out, with hidden cameras rolling. To create drama, they put disturbing tags on each weapon, indicating which models were used in particular mass shootings, unintentional shootings, homicides and suicides. Needless to say, the fresh-faced buyers end up looking rather pallid by the end, and aren’t quite as excited to head home with a firearm. The point of the PSA is to debunk the perception, held by six in 10 Americans, that owning a firearm makes a home safer. In fact, according to studies, those who own a gun—and those around them—have an increased risk of injury and death.

The agency rented the LES storefront at 149 Orchard St. for two days.

UPDATE 3/18: Here’s the response from the NRA: