10 Children A Day
Are Killed By Handguns
It doesn't take an anti-gun fanatic to
realize the United States, self-proclaimed champion of human rights and role
model for civilized behavior, is suffering from a deadly and rapidly
metastasizing cancer of the soul.
In 1988, handguns killed a total of 125
people in the whole of Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Australia and
Canada.
In 1988, handguns killed a total of
8,915 people in the United States. (in 1989, it rose to 9,536 people.)
Fairly or not, Television is handed a
large share of blame for creating this national atmosphere where it's common
practice to settle disputes, gain advantage, or merely release pent up anger by
spewing death or mutilation from the muzzle of a handgun. It's argued Television
only reflects the violence already existing within a society afflicted with a
cowboy mind-set and an unhealthy obsession with weaponry. Studies conflict, but
the disease spreads.
In 1987, 135,000 boys carried a gun to
school daily. Legislation is pending on all government levels to limit the
importation, manufacture and/or sale of certain firearms and to establish a
reasonable waiting period for weapon purchasers (the Brady Bill). Of course, all
statutory controls should be actively supported, but such legislation is
basically damage control, treating the symptoms of this national sickness while
the disease's root cause--the equating of handguns with ordinary household
appliances--goes untended. The specious N.R.A. slogan that 'guns don't kill
people, people kill people' should tell the greater truth: People With Guns Kill
People.
It is estimated that by the year 2000
there will be 90 million handguns (including assault pistols) in the hands of
U.S. civilians.
The Caucus believes the television
industry can and should try to make a difference--not by crying 'mea culpa' or
by self-censorship, but by communicating a few basic truths:
- The ultimate purpose of handguns is to kill, and they must be inaccessible
to the immature, the mentally unstable and the sociopathic.
- The violence inflicted by handguns (or any violence) is ugly and should
not be presented 'tastefully' on television.
- Personal heroism must not be measured by a body count.
- Persons who use handguns promiscuously, for personal advantage or to
inflict wanton fear or injury upon others, are not welcome in civilized
society.
These precepts can be easily and
gracefully incorporated into any television program where they'd be relevant. No
moralizing, no preaching, no Constitutional debate -- merely the voicing of a
socially responsible point of view. As set forth last year in another Caucus
editorial, 'we Producers, Writers & Directors should take as much
responsibility for program content as we take in the conduct of our personal
lives. After all, we are what we do.'
Please. Think about it. And then,
please, do something about it.
