Guns and The Press
On May 29-30, 2015, the Dart Center organized a two-day workshop on covering guns and gun violence, for 30 journalists, at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The first day of the workshop saw a panel consisting of David Kopel, JD Research Director, Independence Institute, and Associate Policy Analyst, The Cato Institute, and Lawrence E. Rosenthal, JD, Professor, Dale E. Fowler School of Law, Chapman University.
The panel discussion, as recorded in the accompanying video, illustrates how ignorance causes problems in the debate over guns and gun control. During Rosenthal's presentation, some dung popped to the surface of his punch bowl — notably his comments about Florida law and the Zimmerman case.
A more credible title for this conference would be, to paraphrase Pogo, "we have found the problem, and the problem is us."
In the video, a comment was made that a "bazooka" would be harmless in the hands of a law abiding citizen in Montana, and yet a small handgun is dangerous in the hands of an outlaw gang-banger in New York City. Even after noting this, what we are seeing is advocacy for applying a 'New York solution' to Montana, rather than a 'Montana solution' to New York City. Instead of solving the 'local' problem locally, the New York problem is being exported, as a burden, on law-abiding citizens in Montana — and other states as well.
The late Tip O'neill was famous for his observation that "politics are local", and Professor Rosenthal, in this video, makes a good case that crime is also a local issue. The 'common' ground is right before our eyes, and it's "local". Until more people see the connection between politics and crime, I don't see any resolution to the gun debate. Unscrupulous individuals (on both sides of the issue) will go on collecting donations and making money off of the debate as long as they are allowed to do so.
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