Media Bias on Guns

Crime offense happens every day in the world, there's a right way to lessening the quantity of crime that is done and a wrongfulness way. Many citizens say that guns are a big part of crime and argue against them. During this media fallout many different viewpoints come out as to why gun control is not doing enough to protect citizens from crimes or if its not gun control that’s the issue, then it is the people committing the crimes. Media bias towards guns is seen in negative and positive ways, to entertainment and destruction in media. Media Bias in the U.S. does exist when media reports about guns.

Worldwide guns are not viewed only in a negative point of view. Music and movies are known to talk about gun violence in a positive way. Entertainment such as movies, YouTube videos or homemade videos are another example. Guns have been a part of movies since the earliest days, Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 film, “The Great Train Robbery” ends with a kill shot of the lead bandit character. The shot was aimed at the camera as if it were shooting at the audience to add realism to the film and intensify the scene (Miller). Action movies like Transformers, and Deadpool are examples of wanting to make the audience feel involved in the movie based off all the action.

Including Disney movies like in Incredibles 2 guns are portrayed as safety in movies to defend the characters from the antagonist. The U.S. Army alongside civilians for self-defense most are trained and have access to guns but for the right reasons. For civilians it is a different scenario, there are more precautions taken such as having ID’s to buy a weapon and background checks. In the music industry, hip-hop and rock genre are most known for references to guns in the lyrics, the music interacts with feelings or actions depending on the meaning of the song.

However, when it comes to background checks and better location as to where the guns are at. In the U.S. they have monitors on every gun, with millions unregistered, “Federal law only requires licensed gun dealers to conduct background checks. That means millions of guns are exchanged each year without a check—most often online or at gun shows through unlicensed “private” sellers.” Felons, domestic abusers, the seriously mentally ill, and other dangerous people know about this situation, and they exploit it every day." (Martinell). In conclusion background checks legally are a positive way of seeing things, as to guns not being registered and sold privately are seen the opposite.

Furthermore, some negative examples of media bias on gun control are the mass shootings. There are many reports on the death rates, gun control and the safety of children and adults worldwide. Twenty-one weeks into 2018 and the U.S. has had twenty-three school shootings that have either injured or killed someone. CNN has kept a record of each shooting that has happened on school property. Parkland, Florida was the sixth school shooting in 2018 and was the worst since Sandy Hook in 2012 (Ahmed et al). Parkland's shooting ignited a young anti-gun movement and made a change in several lives. Although, the gun regulations are to keep felons and mentally ill from purchasing firearms of any kind.

Gun control is an effort to stop an increase of violent crime by having stricter laws on ownership of firearms. People that are anti-gun believe that gun control is wrong and is a violation of constitutional rights. While, pro-gun believe that gun control is good and that the second amendment does not apply to regular citizens. To find out if the media is biased or not, a popular but controversial news story had to be chosen. The story about 3D printing guns provides a great story to analyze. This story is about a variety of people making guns or gun parts easily and at home on their 3D printers. Because the story brings up the fear of any person having a gun, it forces the news sources to show their side on gun laws. This makes it easy to compare each media source's bias on the situation at hand.

In addition, another media source to analyze is the New York Times, which is widely considered a neutral source. Neutrality is obvious in this topic as no clear side on gun laws is shown. The writer simply gives the readers the facts and figures on the story. The only time a side on gun laws is shown is in the interviews with people involved. Instead of emphasizing about how bad it could be with people printing guns left and right, or how out of proportion people are making it, the writer focuses on how inconvenient it actually is to print guns. The New York Times strategically picks a smaller but far less controversial topic to not contradict anyone's views and stay neutral. Henry Fountain, the author, explains how 3D printed guns are “about as likely to kill the gunman as the target,” and that 3D printers “are slow, often taking hours to build an object, and the results […] can be too crude for extremely close-fitting parts” (Fountain). These points do not go into the rights and wrongs of guns but only explain the truth of 3D printers which other sources barely touch on. This source clearly provides a neutral stance.

Other biases that are common are feuds with republicans and democrats about the second amendment. People enjoy having the freedom to do what they want, especially when they can possess something that make them feel superior. The introduction in the second amendment says, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” (“Second Amendment”). Guns have been around for a very long time. In Congress, it is a back and forth battle between the Republicans, who favor less gun control legislation and a literal translation of the Second Amendment. The Democrats who would like to see more gun control legislation to protect the safety of citizens. However, more gun control legislation would punish law-abiding citizens, also it would be a direct violation of the Second Amendment, and it would expand the power of the federal government into areas where the Founding Fathers never wanted it(Morales).

These sources set out to have a clear side on the situation about gun control. The neutral side gave no clear side on the topic. People ask themselves, there has to be some sort of compromise when it comes to guns almost every other night on any given news network. However, when it comes to the topic republicans today want to do absolutely nothing. Closing the gun loophole could easily save more lives and destruction in the long run. Although, congressman and most states have failed to enforce a simple situation that could be fixed.With the analyzation of the one topic covered into two different viewpoints, bias is obviously present in the sources that are liberal or conservative.

Works Cited:

1. Ahmed, Saeed, and Christina Walker. “There Has Been, on Average, 1 School Shooting Every Week This Year.” CNN, Cable News Network, 25 May 2018, 11:00 a.m., www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/us/school-shootings-2018-list-trnd/index.html.
2. Fountain, Henry. "Tools of Modern Gunmaking: Plastic and a 3-D Printer." New York Times. The New York Times Company, 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. .
3. Martinell, TJ. “2nd Amendment: Original Meaning and Purpose.” Tenth Amendment Center, 22 Sept. 2014, tenthamendmentcenter.com/2014/09/22/2nd-amendment-original-meaning-and-purpose/.
4. Miller, Kelsey, and Tristan Offit. “Hollywood Wants Gun Control - For Everyone But Them.” Marijuana Legalization State Vs Federal Law, Scheduling, Refinery29, 16 Jan. 2018, 11:00 a.m., www.refinery29.com/2018/01/185256/gun-control-hollywood-violence-in-film-problem.
5. Morales, Victor. “Scholars Debate Second Amendment to US Constitution.” VOA, VOA, 23 July 2012, 3:58, www.voanews.com/a/scholars_debate_second_amendment_to_us_constitution/1443917.html.
6. “Second Amendment.” Edited by History Editors, History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Dec. 2017, www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/2nd-amendment.