Following the school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, which killed 10 innocent people, conservatives and gun advocates across the country have been placing blame for the continued gun violence in the U.S. on anything but guns. Though America's schools have already seen 22 of these tragedies in 2018 alone, a huge outlier when compared to similarly developed nations where the only noticeable difference is stricter gun control, the GOP has highlighted video games, mental health, and an abundance of exits as the true cause of our nation's gun violence epidemic. Dana Loesch, a pundit on NRA TV, has come up with another scapegoat: the media.
Loesch commented on her program:
The media has got to stop creating more of these monsters by oversaturation. I'm not saying don't responsibly report on things as they happen. I understand it. But constantly showing the image of the murderer, constantly saying their name, is completely unnecessary.
While some Republicans are also repeating their age-old refrain that gun violence is a symptom of America's mental health problem, they've done nothing to address that issue since Donald Trump took office. In fact, while rolling back the amount of mental health coverage many people receive with their health-care package, the President also revoked Obama-era regulations that made it harder for people with mental health issues to buy guns.
Twitter is ablaze with some pretty harsh criticisms of Loesch:
President Trump assured the people of Santa Fe that "[gun violence] has been going on too long in our country — too many years, too many decades now," and that the government would take steps to "protect our students, secure our schools, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others." The President has made similar comments after the most notable shootings of his brief time in office, which included a congressional baseball game, the Las Vegas concert shooting, and the Valentines Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. Thus far, no action has been taken.
While the sensationalized nature of the mass-media may be one of thousands of factors which influence shootings in America, it's one that is also present in most other developed nations. And yet, the amount of gun violence in America's is an anomaly when compared to similarly developed nations.
Ms. Loesch, it seems your argument is a bit shaky.
H/T - RawStory, The New York Times, YouTube
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