The 'JR-15,' an AR-15 rifle for kids, is being marketed again weeks after a 6-year-old shot a teacher

Wee 1 Tactical's JR-15 is about 20% smaller than a standard AR-15 rifle.

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• An Illinois gunmaker is again advertising its AR-15 rifle for kids, called the "JR-15."
• The gun sparked widespread condemnation when Wee 1 Tactical first unveiled it last year.
• A company spokesperson told Vice's Motherboard it will take orders for the rifle later in 2023. 

A gun manufacturer has launched a new marketing campaign for an AR-15 designed for children weeks after a six-year-old shot a teacher at a Virginia elementary school. 

The JR-15 is a .22 long rifle roughly 20% smaller than a standard AR-15 that weighs less than 2-and-½ pounds. It is geared toward "smaller enthusiasts," according to Wee 1 Tactical, the manufacturer that makes the guns. 

A new pamphlet includes a photograph of a young child aiming the gun while an adult helps position it. 

The promotional material references "American family values" and says that the gun is the first in a line of "shooting platforms designed to safely help adults introduce young enthusiasts to the shooting sports." 

The Illinois gun manufacturer sparked widespread condemnation when it unveiled the firearm in February last year.  

The new marketing material takes a somewhat softer approach than the earlier campaign, which promised that the gun "looks, feels, and operates just like Mom and Dad's gun" and featured cartoons of skulls and crossbones with pacifiers in their mouths. 

"Wee 1 Tactical has adopted this supposedly kinder, gentler marketing approach because it knows from experience that most Americans are shocked and disgusted by the idea of manufacturing semiautomatic assault rifles designed for grade schoolers," Josh Sugarmann, the executive director of the Violence Policy Center, said in a statement. 

"The company's persistence in selling assault rifles for children makes clear the need for continued vigilance by parents and communities as well as legislative action," Sugarmann said. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at the time that the gun was "vile." The state later passed a law banning gun marketing toward children, and this week several pro-gun groups lost an initial bid to block the ban. 

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted in support of the firearm last year, suggesting that children at the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, could have defended themselves with the JR-15. 

The gunmaker kept a relatively low profile following the first controversy surrounding the gun but is scheduled to appear at the 2023 SHOT show in Las Vegas from January 17 to 20. Wee 1 Tactical confirmed to Motherboard that the JR-15 would be at the show. 

A Wee 1 spokesperson told Motherboard that it had changed its marketing materials following feedback from "enthusiastic" retailers to make it "clearer in our marketing materials that our product is a training rifle designed with the safety and functionality to assist adults wishing to supervise the introduction of hunting and shooting sports to the next generation of responsible gun owners." 

The company spokesperson said they will be "taking orders for the rifle" later in 2023.  

Wee 1 Tactical did not respond to Insider's request for comment. 

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