The mainstream media used the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida to continue to push for a Democratic agenda on gun control and didn’t broaden the conversation to include other remedies to prevent horrific shooting massacres like more robust school security, stronger mental health provisions and anti-bullying initiatives like Rachel’s Challenge, which news reports indicate has prevented seven school shootings and prevents 150 suicides annually.
As the Daily Caller Foundation’s Evie Fordham reports, “Democratic Florida Rep. Ted Deutch and Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez plan to reintroduce a high-capacity gun magazine ban Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting Thursday. The legislation, which would ban any magazine that exceeds 10 rounds of ammunition, has been dubbed the “Keep Americans Safe Act,” reported CNN. 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Kamala Harris of California are cosponsors.”
Outlets like MSNBC, The Atlantic, NPR, Yahoo News and others included one-year anniversary coverage with discussions about more gun control without bringing in conservative voices to add additional insights and policy proposals.
The mainstream media haven’t often brought in alternative voices like Darrell Scott, father of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the shooting at Columbine High School, and founder of Rachel’s Challenge, who said that lawmakers would be unable to completely stop school shootings and says schools are failing our children by becoming profession-oriented, instead of character-oriented.
“If we practice in the home, if we practice in the school, if we practice in our relationships with each other, a little more empathy, listen a little more, talk a little less, spending more time trying to connect, we will eliminate a lot of the problem,” Scott told me in an interview. “No matter how many laws we pass, it’s not going to stop school shootings. Young people are going to find a way to vent, older people as well. If someone has it in their mind to kill others, they will find a way to do that.”
Reprinted with author’s permission from Accuracy in Media
