Americans respond to the gun control debate
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Since 04-29-07

From: The Media Research Center [mailto:alert@mrcaction.org]
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 12:45 PM
Subject: Americans respond to the gun control debate

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MRC NEWS REPORT FOR APRIL 27, 2007

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From the Desk of:

Douglas Mills 

4/27/2007 

James, 

Following the heart-wrenching tragedy that unfolded at Virginia Tech last week, the gun control debate is again raging as the news media blame the gun shop owner, the firearms manufacturer, and lax gun laws.

Even Ebay is being targeted as a reason for the brutal bloodshed.  

ABC’s Brian Ross said the gun shop where Seung-Hui Cho bought the guns "has sold guns involved in four previous murders, but none like this one."  

Not unexpectedly, news organizations have leveraged the Virginia Tech tragedy into a commentary on gun control. Noting the legality of Cho’s purchase, Ross then attacked the law on "Good Morning America", saying Cho's "purchase of those two guns was entirely legal under current U.S. and Virginia laws. And some say, Diane, that's the scandal."  

What the media obscured in the crush to affix blame, was the fact that only one person was responsible for the horror at Virginia Tech.  

Read the entire Business and Media Institute Report:   http://www.mrcaction.org/r.asp?u=1603&rid=12477565

     Following the Virginia Tech shooting, ABC News conducted a poll that showed 40 percent of Americans think that culture is responsible for gun-violence and another 35 percent blame poor parenting.  

But true to form, ABC News didn't report the culture finding because it wasn't the result they were hoping for. "If they had found that most Americans blamed ‘availability of guns’, they would have screamed that headline.

But the survey didn't support their agenda--so they buried it," says Robert Knight, director of the MRC’s Culture and Media Institute.  

NOTE: While ABC was so busy pointing a finger of blame, they completely overlooked a report in Kennesaw, Georgia. There, citizens were celebrating a quarter-century of murder-free living.

Back in 1982, Kennesaw officials passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. In the 25 years since, Kennesaw's previously high crime rate has dropped far below the national average--while the population has skyrocketed. Not a single resident of this town has been involved in a fatal shooting - as a victim, attacker, or defender.

For more, click here:   http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55288    

The ABC News poll was more about "proving" more gun laws are needed to prevent another such tragedy from happening. But Americans didn't bite. In fact, our own Culture and Media Institute's National Cultural Values Survey strongly indicated that more and more Americans are viewing popular culture as the prime culprit in our nation's moral decline.  

For the complete Culture and Media Institute Report:   http://www.mrcaction.org/r.asp?u=1604&rid=12477565

   Click below for the Culture and Media Institute's National Cultural Values Survey:   http://www.mrcaction.org/r.asp?u=1605&rid=12477565   

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