05 November 2004

Gun / Mainstream Media Rant

I'd like to illustrate for you the power of the mainstream media to deceive, misinform, and form popular opinion. I'll pluck a particular subject from the headlines, then illustrate with a real-life example.

I was at a Texas high school football game last night (yeah, Thursday Night Lights - whatever), when my friend next to me asked if I'd been shooting lately (he's a hunter, and we've talked guns in the past). I told him, sure, I'd shot a match just the night before. He was surprised, I think (he doesn't know I try to shoot a couple of times a week, and practice a couple times of week at home), then asked the 64-dollar question: "So, did you go buy an AK-47?"

I smiled, and took a deep breath. I then asked him if he was talking about the recently expired Assault Weapons Ban. He said yes. I asked him if he could describe to me what an assault weapon actually was. He said, "you know, an automatic rifle, a machine gun, an AK!"

I explained to him that the regulation of automatic weapons has been around since the 1930's. You can buy one, but they're expensive, and you have to have a license. I explained to him that the AWB had NOTHING to do with automatic weapons. Nothing whatsoever. Period.

He was confused, because he was sure he'd read in the newspaper and watched on the TV that it was about guns that can "spray" bullets at a high rate and kill more people. He was SURE that the AWB had legislated against that. He was surprised to find out (after I explained to him the basics of the AWB) that he had misunderstood.

I explained that he had not misunderstood. He had been deceived. Intentionally deceived, because it advanced a political agenda, not a social agenda. The AWB was about careers in Congress, not about public safety. It was a sham that made people feel like they were doing something about an imagined social issue, and thus justify their desire to legislate how you should live.

The recent election clearly illustrates that people who repeat a lie often enough will begin to believe it. They will ignore the reality of a situation in order to feel good about their decisions. It's a hard old world out there. Holding hands and signing Kumbaya will not fix it. You can't legislate problems away, but people want that to be so, because it would make things all better.

The crap we've been fed for so long tastes like ice cream to some people. That's the power of the media. You want sprinkles on that?

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