Gun TV was an American

shopping channel Shopping channels (also known in British English as teleshopping) are a type of television program or specialty channel devoted to home shopping. Their formats typically feature live presentations and demonstrations of products, hosted by on-air pr ...

that allowed buyers to purchase firearms through the traditional

home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Buy.com and Amazon.com, as well as tradit ...

television format. By coincidence and with some accompanying criticism, the network's launch announcement came out around the same time as the

San Bernardino shooting On December 2, 2015, a terrorist attack, consisting of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing, occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. The perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married coupl ...

s occurred. The network mainly operated through a website live stream, along with an overnight over-the-air feed carried by networks such as the

American Sports Network American Sports Network (ASN) was a sports brand owned by the U.S. television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group through its Sinclair Networks subsidiary. Formed in July 2014, the multicast network component of ASN produced broadcasts of sp ...

's 24/7 service,

Tuff TV Tuff TV was an American digital broadcast television network targeted at men owned by the Tuff TV, Inc. division of Seals Entertainment Corporation. Tuff TV launched on June 30, 2009, and ceased operations August 26, 2018. Tuff TV carried a mix ...

Pursuit Channel Pursuit Channel is an American television network that airs programming geared to hunting, fishing, shooting and outdoor recreation. It is based in Glenwood, Alabama and was launched on April 23, 2008. Pursuit is currently available to over 45 m ...

and FightTV. However, the concept proved to be unsuccessful, and the network ended their operations on January 9, 2017, only nine months after their April 1, 2016 launch. They continued to air hour-long

paid programming Paid or PAID may refer to: * ''Paid'' (1930 film), an American film starring Joan Crawford * ''Paid'' (2006 film), a Dutch film *''Personality and Individual Differences'', a journal See also * Paide, the capital of Järva County, Estonia * P ...

blocks overnights on Pursuit Channel of a pre-announced model's demonstration after that date until mid-April 2017, when the company's social media accounts went dormant, with its website following soon after.

Business model

Unlike other shopping channels, Gun TV would not ship any products directly to customers in order to comply with

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevent ...

regulations; instead, the customer would pick up their purchase at the nearest federally licensed dealer, which completed the necessary NICS background checks and paperwork. The firearms were shipped to the dealer via

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

-based

wholesaler Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In g ...

Sports South. As it is illegal to fire a weapon inside a studio in California, Gun TV featured inactive weapons and unloaded firearms in the studio, combined with out-of-studio demonstrations of the firearms with former law enforcement and military personnel, along with popular markspersons, such as ex- Olympic shooters and contestants from the

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

competitive shooting series ''

Top Shot ''Top Shot'' is an American reality television show that debuted on the History Channel on June 6, 2010. In the show, 16 contestants, split into two teams of eight, compete in various types of shooting challenges. One by one, the contestants are ...

'' among those showing off the features of the offered weaponry.

References

Links

Gun TV official website

Gun TV out of ammo after less than year on air
//

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

, Jan 12, 2017 {{American broadcast television (English) defunct 2016 establishments in California 2017 disestablishments in California Television networks in the United States Shopping networks in the United States Coachella Valley English-language television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2016 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2017