Making Hollywood more anti-gun
Posted by Richard on April 6, 2006
A few weeks ago, Dave Kopel’s Second Amendment Newsletter mentioned a press release entitled Firearm Statistics Report Available to Movie, TV Creators. I finally got around to checking it out recently, and here’s what it’s about:
The Entertainment Industries Council Inc. (EIC) has created an extensive compilation of information on gun violence, firearm safety, gun legislation and more as a resource to the creative community for potential storylines. Published under the title Putting a Face on Firearm Statistics: Volume II, this information is available to the entertainment industry through EIC’s First Draft resource program via its website (http://www.eiconline.org/) and through the mail. The publication was made possible through the support of the Joyce Foundation.
"We’re launching an aggressive program to encourage the use of this material to provide awareness about the inherent dangers that guns can pose," said Brian Dyak, President and CEO of EIC.
Well, the support of the Joyce Foundation suggested that I wouldn’t much like the information about guns that the EIC was presenting. A look at their web site confirmed my suspicions. The EIC’s page of "Facts & Statistics" on gun violence and firearms safety relies heavily on discredited "data" from the usual anti-gun "researchers" and sources — Kellerman, Saltzman, the Violence Policy Center, Johns Hopkins’ Center for Gun Policy, and the CDC.
This is really too bad, because the overall purpose of the EIC seems worthwhile. They’re an information and education resource for the entertainment industry regarding such complex issues as drugs, HIV/AIDS, and mental health, so that portrayals of and information about these topics are more accurate. I’ve given some of their other issues information a quick once-over, and it appears to be pretty solid and balanced, unlike the gun violence information. (Of course, I could be wrong about that, fooled by my ignorance of the Kellermans and Saltzmans in those fields.)
More information and education about guns would be a good thing for the entertainment industry. For instance, a few years ago, the EIC sponsored a firearms safety class taught by a retired police officer. This was an excellent idea. People have been killed and injured on movie sets using prop guns. And on-screen portrayals of gun use are typically pretty awful both in terms of technical accuracy and in terms of safe gun handling. This class ought to be an annual event.
Unfortunately, the EIC’s "Facts & Statistics" on guns aren’t educating the entertainment industry. They’re just feeding it more anti-gun propaganda, such as Kellerman’s 20-year-old bogus claims about defensive gun use, which were thoroughly discredited ages ago.
Do we really need an organized, well-funded effort to make Hollywood more anti-gun?
Kevin Baker said
I came across a really accurate appelation for Hollywood that’s different from the normal “Hollyweird” – Tinselgrad.
I like it. Short. Pithy. Accurate.
Anonymous said
Kevin: I guess I’m just slow on Mondays. At first, I read “-grad” as if it were short for “graduate,” leaving me rather befuddled.
Finally, I recognized the Russian suffix for “city.”
Thanks, that’s a good one! 🙂