Commentary

Gun-Related Messaging, Images: A Broader Perspective For The Long Term

Nineteen children and two teachers were murdered at a Texas elementary school just ten days after 10 African-Americans were murdered in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

Where does TV content and advertising fit in? Politicians across the country in TV commercials can be found proudly brandishing guns they might use for hunting -- or another purpose -- while campaigning. Those ads have no problem getting played on TV networks and stations.

What if other kinds of content could play right after some political messages -- perhaps images or footage showing not just what is really happening in schools, churches, synagogue and stores in America but the residual after-event effects of gun violence? Another side of gun ownership.

Why more video and memories of hurt and pain? Because there is no more time to waste. It might drive home a point.

Recently, we have seen graphic video on TV networks of deceased Ukrainian citizens who were shot and killed while out on the street -- walking or biking, or going to the store. Each time a similar message appears: “Warning: Graphic Video.”

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That video is, in fact, difficult to watch. But it has a specific use. Other video -- not necessarily graphic, but more revealing, on TV would perhaps have a longer-term impact. Otherwise, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

Ask yourself why this happens exponentially more often in this country compared to everywhere else in the word. Yes, other countries grapple with the issue of dealing with mentally ill citizens --- young and old -- as well. They are not different from us in that regard. But they have something else: Stronger gun laws.

In this country, those same mentally ill people have easy access to guns. After the age of 18, in some states, you can buy an AR-15 -- a military-style gun -- with no training, license, or background check. And the purpose of that weapon? Fill in your answer.

In the coming days we’ll continue to see more video of that Texas elementary school, and law enforcement officers milling around. And then memorial pictures of victims. A few weeks from now, we might not be thinking about Uvalde, Texas.

Do you want real change? Perhaps more video -- for the long term -- showing that a deeper gun-related perspective is needed.

2 comments about "Gun-Related Messaging, Images: A Broader Perspective For The Long Term".
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  1. M Gingrich from GI, May 31, 2022 at 10:05 a.m.

    What happened in Buffalo and Uvalde were horrific. FULL STOP. In 2021 there were 663,000 deer hunters in Pennsylvania alone. 150,000 pheasant hunters in South Dakota annually. Law abiding citizens who contribute a lot to the economies of those states, and the conservation of wildlife.


    The Uvalde shooter was a drug addict and kicked out of his home by his mother. If there was a registry would she have flagged him? No, and neither would most parents. The Sandy Hook shooter killed his mother and took her guns. Why did she have them with a mentally unstable person in the house?


    You gloss over the mental health issue but I think we need to look beyond the HOW it happened, and rather at the WHY. Why has there been a total disregard for human life in this country - both the victims and self? And that statement includes metro gun/gang violence which is committed by non-law abiding gun owners. There will always be a HOW


    I don't have answers but - even as a hunter myslef - the glorification of guns is rampant in this country on TV, video games, and yes, even our politicians.

  2. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, May 31, 2022 at 10:23 a.m.

    Setting aside the notion that all firearms should be banned as not only  impractical to enforce but as unneccesary---there are legitimate uses for guns not only for hunting but for home defense, for example---it seems to me that banning the sale of military style weapons to teenagers and even in general---unless approved by some qualified, non-political, community or governmental board--might be a start. It's useless to dream about curing the kind of mental illness that seems to have been behind the recent Texas school massacre, nor will we always get the kind of police response that one might have expected. So something needs to be done that may actually save lives. Yet, even such a small start seems blocked by our political wars. Sad.

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