Media and Gun Control

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Gun Control Gun control has always been a fairly important matter in American society, yet has be-come a much larger concern within the past few years. Our founding fathers felt gun control was an imperative enough issue to create the second amendment. As society has shifted from the freedom of English rule to the diverse, technologically advanced nation it is today, new situa-tions have greatly influenced public opinion to bring about adjustments to current policies. The issue overwhelming America is whether or not gun control will positively affect the safety of citizens as a whole. We will discuss this issue, touch on present public opinion and political so-cialization pertaining to gun control, and the possible outcomes that may occur. The issue of gun control has become a popular debate in the United States due to high crime volume throughout the nation. Unfortunately, more emphasis is put on this topic whenever acts of gun violence occur. As a result of this violence, the public has developed two distinct groups, pro-gun and anti-gun. Those for increased gun-control do not believe that the state and federal government enforce enough policies for control, are pro-gun control. Those for gun-control believe that stricter laws can prevent the loss of countless, innocent individuals lives. For example, they believe had these preventative laws been enforced previously, shootings like the Colorado theater shooting, the Columbine school shooting, and the Sandy Hook tragedy would have been avoided. **State statistics, and political support groups, etc** Those for anti gun-control believe that as American citizens we have the right to bear arms. If those rights were taken away, it would infringe upon the ability to pro... ... middle of paper ... ...es of the public are being trampled on by the agenda of the media which is cause for concern, considering its mass influence. As experience and history has taught us, pulling guns from law-abiding citizens, does not decrease gun access to criminals, and thus gun-control does not decrease violence. With raging threats displayed from mass media and political figures, now is the time to reflect on the 2nd amendment’s true purpose. References Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project Staff. (April 25, 2013). Gun Control and the Media. Pew Research Journalism Project. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org/2013/04/25/spikes-attention-and-shifts-opinion-gun-control-debate/. Schmidt, S., Shelley, M., Bardes, B., & Ford, L. (2012). Public opinion and political socializa-tion. In American government and politics today (p. 214). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.

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