A Pattern Of Deception
How the news media distorts gun issues
By John Hay Rabb

Next to the Second Amendment, the First Amendment is arguably the most important provision of the Congressional Bill of Rights. Except in certain extreme situations, the news media is free to publish and broadcast whatever suits its fancy. There is no requirement for stories to be factual, balanced or complete. Nowhere is this cavalier approach to the truth more apparent than in the news media's coverage of gun issues.

In evaluating news media coverage of gun issues, it is important to differentiate between the two distinct elements of the American news media. The first and most dominant segment is composed primarily of liberal elites who write and broadcast for the major national newspapers, news magazines and television networks. Many of these journalists proudly wear their anti-gun sentiments on their sleeves.

In 1985 the Los Angeles Times surveyed 3,000 journalists about their attitudes toward gun control. Seventy-eight percent of the journalists said they favored stricter control on guns. By contrast, only about 50 percent of Americans in 1985 favored more stringent gun-control laws.

The other major element of the American news media is composed of the local newspapers, radio stations and television stations. This element tends to be more factual and balanced than the national news media in its coverage of gun issues. These journalists are more likely to write and broadcast stories about the defensive use of handguns. The Keep and Bear Arms organization and the National Rifle Association cataloged some 450 news stories that mention defensive handgun use. Most of these stories originated with local news media outlets.

The national media elite cover gun stories in a way that closely parallels the agenda of the major anti-gun organizations.

These journalists simply cannot abide the notion that private citizens can and do maintain firearms for personal protection. The media elites believe that guns should only be in the hands of law enforcement and the military forces. They also contend that there should be more federal, state and local gun-control laws.

This bizarre utopian philosophy predictably skews major media coverage of gun stories. There was a veritable media orgy associated with the tragic series of mass murders that occurred in the country during the last several years. But in its zeal to advance its agenda, the national media often overlooked critical facts.

For instance, in the case of the Appalachian Law School shootings in Virginia in 2002, there was virtually no national media coverage of the role that private firearms played in stopping the deranged gunman. In fact, the shooter was apprehended by two law students who had handguns in their cars. Fortunately, a number of local news media outlets carried accurate and complete accounts of the tragedy.

It is an article of faith among the news media elite that guns kept in private homes pose an alarming risk to children living in or visiting those homes. But scholar John Lott has shown that this alarm is misplaced. Lott's research has demonstrated that more children die in car accidents, bicycle mishaps, bathtub drownings and drownings in five-gallon buckets of water than are killed by guns kept in private homes.

The media elite is delighted to use statements by prominent officials to buttress its own anti-gun leanings. Some of these officials are only too happy to make ignorant pronouncements on gun-control issues. For example, in 1999 John Lott spoke to Ed Rendell, who is now the Governor of Pennsylvania. For the record, Pennsylvania is a pro-gun state with a "shall issue" CCW law and a proud hunting tradition.

When Lott asked Rendell about the defensive use of handguns, Lott said, "[Rendell] had never heard of a defensive gun use. He said he didn't believe that [defensive gun uses] occurred."

Rendell, of course, is demonstrably wrong. The NRA prints a list of defensive gun uses every month in its members' magazines, and these events continue to occur with some regularity.

Sometimes government entities aid the anti-gun cause by refusing to talk about potentially embarrassing gun-related issues. For example, the U.S. Capitol Police in 1968 adopted a regulation that allows "any Member of Congress" to maintain "firearms within the confines of his or her offices." The regulation also allows any member of Congress or Congressional staffer to transport unloaded, wrapped firearms on Capitol grounds. Just for the record, Washington, D.C., has a total ban on handgun possession and a registration requirement for all long guns.

I attempted to pose some questions about this regulation to the U.S. Capitol Police. My questions concerned registration of Congressional firearms, limits on numbers and types of Congressional firearms and guidelines for the use of Congressional firearms. My questions were all posed in writing, in accordance with Capitol Police request. After checking with the Capitol Police General Counsel, spokeswoman Officer Jessica Gissubel said the Capitol Police would refuse to answer any of my questions for reasons of "national security." How convenient.

Not surprisingly, the liberal news media devote a great deal of ink and airtime to the plight of minorities in this country. Law-abiding African-Americans living in high-crime areas are certainly in dire straits. They are disproportionately victims of more gun crime than residents of safer neighborhoods. The liberal media is stubbornly unable to accept the proposition that law-abiding gun owners in high-crime areas might contribute to the reduction of gun crime. According to John Lott's research, there is evidence to support this proposition. Legal gun ownership in predominantly African-American high-crime areas reduces the violent crime rate by a measurable extent.

Don't hold your breath waiting to see this story in a major news media outlet.

To some extent, most media outlets are victims of declining advertising revenue and competition from cable stations and the Internet. In order to boost audience and ratings, editors and news directors are relying more and more on the old media axiom that "If it bleeds, it leads." Violent gun crimes are perfectly suited for this style of tabloid journalism.

There was a time when journalism students and cub reporters were schooled in the Associated Press (AP) style of news writing. This writing style emphasized the fundamentals of a news story: who, what, when, where and why. AP still more or less adheres to this style. But most of the major media have abandoned the AP style in favor of a more edgy, provocative approach that lends itself to the promotion of political agendas, such as gun control.

So what is the average law-abiding gun-owning citizen to do in the face of this pervasive media bias against guns? There are a couple of possible approaches.

The first is actually an imperative, to ensure that all gun owners are trained, prudent and levelheaded in the possession of their guns. To do otherwise would threaten the lives of innocent others and invite unfavorable media scrutiny.

The second option is to let your voice be heard on gun rights issues. Media outlets are surprisingly responsive to even small numbers of audience opinions. If you read a story or hear a broadcast that is factually incorrect and biased against gun owners, by all means contact the media outlet and make your views known in a calm and concise fashion. You can write a letter to the editor, send an e-mail message or talk to a news editor. If you are really motivated and persistent, you can contact the reporter who wrote the offending story. Many reporters are surprisingly receptive to calm, enlightened comments from news consumers.

No gun owner should entertain the delusion that the fundamental anti-gun bias of the liberal news media cabal will ever be totally eradicated. But if you're a responsible, law-abiding gun owner, you have already demonstrated that you care about the safety of your family and your community. That sense of safety will be at risk if the anti-gun groups achieve their stated goal of eliminating all private gun ownership in America. So don't let blatantly anti-gun stories go unchallenged. Remember, as a wise man once said, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

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