...Jonathan Schwartz Prof: F, Gomez Eng 1A 11-15-13 The Power of the Media to Shape Our Perceptions and Understanding of Reality on Gun Control Introduction The wake of gun violence in the United States has seen various proposals on how to handle the gun issue. Occasionally, people have woken up to shocking incidences of gun violence on various quarters. Perhaps the most outrageous incidents are the ones that involved shooting of school going children by a fellow student, seemingly unstable, or at least for that moment. It is important to note that in these incidences, the media coverage of the live happenings have always been extensive, giving the perpetrator of such violence a lot of fame. Various segments of the society have reacted to such incidences with diverging and converging opinions on what should be the best way forward. While the Obama administration has been on the forefront proposing stringent measures for the purposes of reducing or eliminating repeat occurrence, Republicans have a different view on how to address the whole matter. Religious groups and civil society have not spoken in one voice although one may deduce that everyone desires some changes in regards to how the whole issue should be addressed. Some of the emerging schools of thought that have come out have to do with logic behind issuance of guns, the ethical and practical implications of the solutions proposed for adoption as policy. Probably the big challenge is that the incidences...
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... Student: Valeriya Zakreski Violence is a physical action to injure people or property. We can read a lot of information and watch news about violence. We can say that violence is a part of our life and he human condition. But the worst fact that today, our children are involved to this part of human condition. From child abuse to murder, to school-yard bullying, violence takes its toll, often with children being the innocent. But what can cause the violence between the children? Today we can hear a lot of information about it, as: toy guns and video games affect on the children’s health and behavior, violent homes lead children to the crime. “More than 1,000 studies on the effects of television and film violence have been done over the past 40 years. The majority of these studies reach the same conclusion: television and film violence leads to real-world violence. By age 18 an American child will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence.” Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Chairman Committee on the Judiciary. September 14,1999. Children, Violence, And the Media. A report for Parents and Policy Makers (http://ratemyschoolboard.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/children-violence-and-the-media/) The idea about that video games and movies can affect people is not confirmed; however, children’s behavior can be changed by introducing in their life the violent toys, video games, violent environment. All arguments are around the gun toys. For example, Daniel Stauber...
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...Connecticut Gun Safety A fundamental purpose of the political system is to deal with matters of public policy. One of the major matters in public policy that Connecticut has been facing is the issue of gun safety and control. Gun control and safety laws in the state of Connecticut have changed over time and are continuing to change. The issue of gun control and safety if one of the most controversial and heated topics in the state as well as across the country. Gun control requires regulating the sale, possession, and use of firearms by civilians within the state. This issue has become incredibly challenging in the state following the school shooting in December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary school. Since that dreadful day six years...
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...educational and emotional film about the severe gun violence in the United States of America, and what causes this extreme violence. Michael Moore, the film maker, continually tries to convince viewers that if guns were more difficult to find, there will be a dramatic decrease in gun violence. Michael Moore uses specific video clips to appeal to the viewer’s emotions on guns. Through this use of pathos, Michael Moore is able to describe how dangerous it can be when teenagers or young irresponsible adults get control of a loaded gun. Although Michael Moore is completely biased against gun control, his documentary affected the way I think about guns and gun control. Michael Moore uses clips such as, 911 phone calls and security camera footage to make a personal, emotional connection to all the viewers watching. In one specific incident he spoke to the producer of COPS. In this interview we, the audience, learn that the producer prefers to portray blacks as the criminals so that the whites can get guns to protect themselves. In my opinion, this is a reason why gun violence is so prevalent in America - the fear of African Americans. Moreover, Michael Moore speaks with the students of the Columbine incidents to discuss mental health issues. These interviews reveal that the high incidence of a variety of mental problems among young people coupled with the prevalence of guns in the country, makes gun violence a very real and pervasive problem in the United...
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...shootings could occur anywhere in the world where firearms are available for access. These types of shootings in particular have generated a political dispute on stricter gun control. There are well known shootings in the United States, Europe, Canada, and other countries. The United States has the highest number of school related shootings. This paper will examine a few of those incidents and compare how the media and academic articles portray them. Overall, media articles show that coverage of school shooting events such as the ones that occurred at Virginia Tech University and Sandy Hook Elementary School tend to primarily focus on the number of victims, reactions of family, the misfortune of the event, as well as the mental state and background of the shootings. For an example, in the Los Angeles Times article “Gunman kills 20 kids, 6 adults at Connecticut elementary school”, they focus on the number of dead, imagery, and the emotion after the shooting such as parent’s reactions and children’s reactions. In the article they seem to dramatize the whole situation by saying things like “Evil visited this community today”. Although it is a tragic event the media seems to focus more on the issue of numbers and emotion. I think that the media might focus on the numbers to catch the reader’s attention. The media does not attempt to look into the reasoning why this person did the things they did, they instead emphasize on the facts. The Los Angeles Times says “Adam Lanza, 20, earlier...
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...Crime is extremely prevalent and occurs often. Most people want to avoid talking about crime, out of fear. Whenever an act of violence happens, most people turn to the news to provide them with information regarding the incident. The information gets twisted, and a whole group of people get shamed for something out of their control. The negative ideas about mental health that come from the public are heavily influenced by the media’s negative portrayals when crime is committed by those with mental illnesses. When one “crazy” person does something wrong, every single person with OCD, for example, is also viewed as deranged and unpredictable. Although mental illnesses may ignite something in the brain to act, mental health can not fairly be the...
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...Flared by uncontrollable violent emotions and encouraged by violent media, the violent killers have struck, taking many lives. Now, everyone will pay. In the Columbine shooting, the dangerous effects of the tons of violent media plastered everywhere is evident. The two horrible killers played countless hours of violent video games, leading them to the dreadful plotting of their extremely devastating shooting. When shooting occurred, it was clear from the guns they used to the strategies of killing they used where they obtained their inspiration from Their violent video games. Clearly, violence in the media does contribute to the violence in society. Since celebrities are very commonly idolized, it is very likely people will imitate their idols, even to the point of acting out violently. Mary Gavin admits, "Many violent acts are perpetrated by the "good guys" whom kids have been taught to emulate. Even though kids are taught by their parents that it isn't right to hit, television says it's okay to bite, kick, or hit if you're the "good guy."" Like Mary states, these violent acts are usually directed at the "bad guy," it is very easy to apply the "good guy's" solution to their own lives. When the solution that the "good guy" uses involves violent material, media consumers are encouraged to commit these violent acts themselves just because their role models say it is okay to. This greatly affects the role of violence in our society when these "good guys" start being compared to horrible...
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...But oddly, not many people now about the church shooting in texas where a man shot up a church with a rifle but was later shot and killed by a man with a rifle of his own, effectively stopping the shooting before it could further escalate. Recently the media also did not blow up coverage on the maryland school shooting where a teenager fired rounds in his school but was stopped by an armed school officer, stopping the shooting before anyone could get seriously hurt. The shooter Rollins a 17 year old, was not armed with an assault rifle or any rifle for that fact, instead he was armed with what most shooters would use, a handgun. This may be why the media did not want to cover this extensively, because it was not an assault rifle used and/or the fact that authorities actually did their jobs and stopped the shooter. The anti gun liberals are using the media and the minds of young liberals to advance their goal in banning all guns, possibly getting rid of the second amendment. After many tragedies the media have always said that the current shooting is the worst one yet, the “deadliest school shooting ever” when this is not the case. In the recent Parkland shooting it was...
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...Improving school Security, Cutting down on violence in the media, and doing something about gun free zones. The first way is Improving school Security. Scm said "Schools should have security entrances with armed guards and metal detectors similar to airports." All schools should have metal detectors at the very least and one to five security guards depending on...
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...“Despite tough gun laws, the city is plagued by shootings and illegal firearms.”-Ali Elkin As you may know Chicago has had a lot of gun related deaths this year, which includes gang related, self defense, cop killings or just random shootings. Yes Chicago does have strict gun laws but can you use this to make a case for gun control? Just by looking at Chicago’s tough gun laws and its high rates of gun violence I don’t think you need proof that the problem can’t be legislated away.New Jersey governor Chris Christie offered a similar argument with gun control .Christie stated that “In many of the places around the country where they have the toughest gun laws, they have the highest violent crime rates.And we focus on a tragedy like this.It’s...
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...The culture of weapons is the biggest reason for the US be leaders in death by firearms among developed countries. Mass shooting is defined by FBI as incidents which four or more people get shot or kill in a single event, at the same general time and location, not including the shooter. During the year of 2015, there were 372 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2015, killing 475 people and wounding 1,870 (FBI) and those numbers indicate that mass shooting events are also occurring at bigger frequency, specifically with mass public events or places, usually where the victims do not know the shooter. Those attacks are often pre-meditated with the purpose of retribution, mass-murder, terrorism, or mass-hysteria. Additionally, more than one a day is how often, on average, shootings that left people wounded or dead in the United States (Cohen, Sarah, Lafraniere and Oppel)....
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...Anti-Gun Control Gun control is a huge restriction we face as Americans. As time progresses, gun laws get have been getting more strict and serious, thus making it harder for non felons to obtain a permit to carry. Even the Second Amendment gives us as Americans the right to bear arms. Gun control in Indiana is more strict than a lot of other states. In Indiana, in order to carry a hand gun, you must have a concealed carry permit produced by the state of Indiana. In order to obtain the permit you must be at least eight-teen years old and fill out an application, and be fingerprinted. In other states such as Virginia you can simply carry a handgun as long as you are eight-teen and don’t have a felony. You can still get a gun permit in Virginia but until you get one you must open carry the gun, without hiding it. Even though when you turn eighteen you can obtain a gun permit, as eighteen you can’t buy a handgun. However at that age, you can go to a gun store and by any rifle. I think these laws are a little mixed up. I think that if im old enough to carry a hand gun, I should be able to buy one. Guns are not killing people, what kills people is when guns get in the wrong hands. This is the result of our strict gun laws. However other actions could be taken to allow safe people to obtain guns and felons to not. Such actions are being used today including the concealed carry permit process, because it requires a background check. I think the process should be a little more simple...
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...Internet Resources 1. Agresti, James D., and Reid K. Smith. "Gun Control Facts." 11 Feb. 2013 Web 18 Sept. 2014. http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp. This is a web document in which the authors cover pure statistics and facts. Graphs, tables, quotes, and statistics are all that this piece contains. This resource is useful since it was updated a little more than a year ago with the most recent data and continues to be updated as new stats and facts become available. It is also neutral in nature, giving just the facts and referencing both the affirmative and negative sides of the argument. 2. McEntee, Peg. “Utah Teacher Shoots Herself in Leg With Concealed Weapon.” Huffington Post 11 Sept. 2014 Web 18 Sept. 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/11/teacher-shoots-self-concealed-weapon_n_5807826.html?utm_hp_ref=gun-control The Huffington Post is a news site with an entire section dedicated to news surrounding gun control, both recent and past. This article is helpful because it outlines the concealed carry laws in Utah schools, a state which has closely modeled it’s laws after Colorado’s. This article is useful because it describes some of the negative effect that concealed carry on campus has for the person carrying as well as the student population/their parents if they find out about the firearm. 3. Students for Concealed Carry. “Common Arguments Against Campus Carry.” Concealed Campus 2011-2012 Web Sept. 18 2014 http://concealedcampus.org/common-arguments/ ...
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...Psychological Analysis of Firearm Misuse and the Public Perspective of Firearm Violence Colin R. Moran Columbus State Community College, Ohio Abstract Every year, more and more people are subjected to the lifelong fear created by events of isolated firearm misuse. This paper will explore the psychological aspects of firearm misuse, question the means which the media uses to distribute information about the events, and apply published research from various reliable sources to conclude the problems created by the methods we approach this issue. This research will also discuss the many hardships that the experts face in predicting and preventing these events, while suggesting possible changes that might lead to improved accuracy and...
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...Day-to-Day Mass Shooting cannot be prevented By Katherine Zelaya Mass shootings have caused many controversy in our American community. People should stay at home safe instead of going to shopping centers, movie theatres, and other public places risking the danger due to all the violence and massacres going on in America. Throughout the decade there has been many cases involving interactions with people in possession of guns. Since as long as I know, mass shootings have become a global issue that has increased within the years. In addition, mass shootings have doubled within the past 10 years, not to mention, these crimes have resulted in numerous deaths, due to the wrong people in possession of firearms. Occurrences like...
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