From: guitarsoverguns.org
One enduring propaganda technique of the gun prohibition lobby has been to use images of guns, or any mention of guns, only in negative contexts. Are homicides up? It’s because of guns. School shootings? Those evil guns again. And most mainstream media outlets are only too happy to assist their ideological soulmates by making the theme of the “evil” gun the focal point of any story remotely connected to guns.
Any mention of guns in a beneficial context for children—NRA youth shooting programs, the Appleseed Project, scouting shooting programs, or hundreds of local gun club youth shooting competitions across the country—is carefully omitted.
A recent CNN story demonstrates how even a seemingly innocent and beneficial public service program can be used as propaganda against gun owners. “Guitars Over Guns” is a non-profit youth mentoring program intended to immerse at-risk Miami youth in music education and playing. The idea is to expose young people to the world of making music as an alternative to juvenile delinquency. It’s hard to think of a more service-minded project than this, and I have no quarrel at all with the program’s mission.
The problem is the blatant bigotry in the program’s name and brand. The project and presumably the name were conceived by professional musician Chad Bernstein. Bernstein’s bio reveals a heavily urban background, a common feature of people deficient in knowledge of and respect for the American tradition of gun ownership. He appears to have been an urban disadvantaged youth in this respect. With this upbringing he may not have known any better than to use the cutely alliterative, but discriminatory title of “Guitars Over Guns” for his otherwise worthwhile program.
CNN shares the blame for not addressing its subject’s prejudice fairly, but then that’s no surprise. The cable news giant, like most mainstream media outlets, has a history of using its viewer reach to attack gun owners. It has even flat-out lied to its viewers in an effort to portray guns and gun owners in a negative light. Recall when NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre appeared on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Reports and famously exposed a CNN news bureau chief’s faked story, complete with video, misrepresenting so-called “assault weapons” as machine guns.
Is Chad Bernstein’s bigotry merely due to his own ignorance, and not intentional? Probably. But the effect is the same either way. It’s the only blemish on what would otherwise be a perfect example of public service.
—Timothy Wheeler, MD is director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, a project of the Second Amendment Foundation.