I turned on the tube this morning, and caught a program on A&E called “The Investigative Files”. It was about America’s “gun culture”, particularly the “gun culture” in Texas.
IT NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME. The lousy media stooped to an all time low with this one.
First off was a piece about a really young boy who had been shot in the head and almost died. They played off so much emotion it was unbelievable. Showing the doctor shouting “come on kid, move your fingers for me” – the mother and father crying hysterically – the poor kid with tubes and wires trailing out of him in every direction, clinging to life by a thread. Sad, certainly. Moving, obviously. But as usual they used these moving images to demonize gun ownership. They barely talked about the criminal scum who shot him. Just wrote the poor kid off as “another innocent victim of the ‘gun culture’”.
They then showed a hunting club with a bunch of fathers showing their young children how to shoot hunting rifles. They touched repeatedly on the fact that most of the guns had been passed down through three or four generations, and were not registered. They highlighted the idea that gun ownership is deeply “rooted” and “entrenched” in our culture (using those words suggested a bothersome tree or tick that sould be removed), and these people were prime examples. They were all showing extreme gun safety, all wearing blaze orange, etc -–but the lousy reporters tarred them as wackos anyway. In all honesty, they should have DAMN WELL KNOWN BETTER than to allow any kind of media or press to interview or film them! They came off as bloodthirsty extemeists, and that’s putting it lightly. They showed a young boy miss a deer, only to hammer a turkey and have his father smear his face with it’s blood. But the best one was a nine year old girl who had shot her first deer, a doe. She looked right in the camera and, talking in a babyish voice, said:
“…we saw this doe come by, and I put the gun up, and I hit her in the shoulder, and I hit her really good, in the shoulder, and her leg flew up like this (making a crippling gesture), and she almost fell over, and then blood starting squirting out everywhere, and she ran about thirty yards.”
What a great way to portray hunting, huh?
The best piece they did was about a kid who had been shot accidentally by his best friend. He had been shot with a 22 revolver, in the stomach, while his buddy was goofing off, pointing it at him. They showed pictures of him in the hospital, the scars on his stomach, how close he had come to death, how he now had spinal meningitis, etc. Here’s the kicker – the boy and his mother were not ranting about implementing gun control and ending gun ownership. They both said it was the fault of his friend, and his friend’s parents for irresponsible gun ownership. The reporter’s response?
Using this mother/son example, they claimed that the “gun culture” was so brainwashing, even victims of guns can’t be swayed from defending them.
JUST WHEN I THOUGHT IT COULDN”T GET ANY WORSE.
------------------
"Oh yeah? Well I talk LOOOUDLY! And I carry a BIIIGGER stick! And I'll use it, too." -Yoesemite Sam
IT NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME. The lousy media stooped to an all time low with this one.
First off was a piece about a really young boy who had been shot in the head and almost died. They played off so much emotion it was unbelievable. Showing the doctor shouting “come on kid, move your fingers for me” – the mother and father crying hysterically – the poor kid with tubes and wires trailing out of him in every direction, clinging to life by a thread. Sad, certainly. Moving, obviously. But as usual they used these moving images to demonize gun ownership. They barely talked about the criminal scum who shot him. Just wrote the poor kid off as “another innocent victim of the ‘gun culture’”.
They then showed a hunting club with a bunch of fathers showing their young children how to shoot hunting rifles. They touched repeatedly on the fact that most of the guns had been passed down through three or four generations, and were not registered. They highlighted the idea that gun ownership is deeply “rooted” and “entrenched” in our culture (using those words suggested a bothersome tree or tick that sould be removed), and these people were prime examples. They were all showing extreme gun safety, all wearing blaze orange, etc -–but the lousy reporters tarred them as wackos anyway. In all honesty, they should have DAMN WELL KNOWN BETTER than to allow any kind of media or press to interview or film them! They came off as bloodthirsty extemeists, and that’s putting it lightly. They showed a young boy miss a deer, only to hammer a turkey and have his father smear his face with it’s blood. But the best one was a nine year old girl who had shot her first deer, a doe. She looked right in the camera and, talking in a babyish voice, said:
“…we saw this doe come by, and I put the gun up, and I hit her in the shoulder, and I hit her really good, in the shoulder, and her leg flew up like this (making a crippling gesture), and she almost fell over, and then blood starting squirting out everywhere, and she ran about thirty yards.”
What a great way to portray hunting, huh?
The best piece they did was about a kid who had been shot accidentally by his best friend. He had been shot with a 22 revolver, in the stomach, while his buddy was goofing off, pointing it at him. They showed pictures of him in the hospital, the scars on his stomach, how close he had come to death, how he now had spinal meningitis, etc. Here’s the kicker – the boy and his mother were not ranting about implementing gun control and ending gun ownership. They both said it was the fault of his friend, and his friend’s parents for irresponsible gun ownership. The reporter’s response?
Using this mother/son example, they claimed that the “gun culture” was so brainwashing, even victims of guns can’t be swayed from defending them.
JUST WHEN I THOUGHT IT COULDN”T GET ANY WORSE.
------------------
"Oh yeah? Well I talk LOOOUDLY! And I carry a BIIIGGER stick! And I'll use it, too." -Yoesemite Sam