Should the media release graphic images of gun violence victims?

Most people would be turned off by graphic images of a mass shooting except for the next whacko shooter who would relish the thought of creating the same scene.
 

oldman said:
I was at the range yesterday. It’s a small outdoor range owned and operated by a private hunting club, who was smart enough to register it as a 501 corporation for insurance, tax and liability reasons. There are eight stands located about 75-100 feet in front of the target. The stand is used for the shooter’s convenience of placing unloaded weapons and extra cartridges on it. If you’re keeping score, you can also have a pen/pencil and paper. One of the rules is that you can take pictures or video of your shooting only.

My son and I were able to get two stands side by side. He was shooting his .44 magnum and I started with the S&W .40. There was a shooter beside him that would from time to time walk back to his car, which was parked about 30 yards away. What bothered us was the fact that he never set his weapon down on the stand. Instead, he would walk back and forth to his car with his pistol in hand and his finger on the trigger. This is a violation of the rules.

Neither of us knew this person and had never seen him at the range before. We were both hesitant to approach him and remind him of the rules. It’s kind of uncomfortable knowing there is a shooter behind you with a loaded weapon, especially when you don’t know the person or have never seen him before. My son and I decided to just keep an eye on him to make sure he sticks to only firing at the targets. When he left, I took down the description of his car and also his license plate number. When he left, he also failed to clean up his area and pick up the spent cartridges. After I got home, I called the one Director and explained to him what we witnessed. He told me that he was going to have the police run the license number and then run his name to find out if he has a record or if someone may be looking for him. His behavior was unusual.
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On the rare occasions that I saw anything unsafe at the range, I let employees know.
 

Not a good idea - any more than showing photos of Jayne Mansfield's decapitation in a car accident to show how dangerous cars are.
Or photos of the remains of Kobe Bryant, his daughter & 7 others to show how dangerous flying is.
 
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Bonnie said:
They are going to release video of Uvalde shooting to the public - that is coming, but it isn't going to be showing the crime scene in the classroom.
Only the cowardly cops in the hallway, and the trail of the shooter into the school I believe.
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I don't know what good will come from releasing videos of the cowardly cops. Those particular cops are already held in pretty low regard, as are police in general in this day and age with all their "police state" attitudes and conduct. And that low regard will continue until the police return to the "serve and protect" dictum that used to be their creed. It was even written on the side of their police cars.
 
No. Such images just serve to make people immune to shock - and that leads to apathy and acceptance. It will not curb gun violence, in my opinion. Gun laws and weapons bans will!
 
I've been thinking about this since I started the thread and after reading everyone's posts, and I almost started to agree that they shouldn't release the graphic images. I agree that it would be traumatic to a lot of people to view the carnage and gore resulting from an AR-15 shooting. Anyone who wasn't traumatized is probably a sociopath.

But then I started thinking that maybe for change to be effected, for politicians to finally take action, perhaps mass trauma is what is necessary. Allow me to condition that on the approval of the victim's family members for the graphic images to be released and no images of their loved ones should be released without their consent. But I suspect that if release of the images could bring about change, they'd embrace the action. It would give the otherwise senseless deaths some meaning.

We've been watching these AR-15 shootings for long enough. Going back to the Aurora theater shooting, or perhaps even further back than that, the AR-15 style rifle has been shown to have no place in civilized society. Maybe mass trauma is what's necessary to bring about change, meaning the banning of that rifle and all similar weapons.
 
I listened this morning to a bereaved mother who convinced me that publishing the photos would just ensure that the families of the victims would be forever retraumatised once copies appeared on the net. This would include siblings already struggling with the trauma.

I had forgotten about the internet. Trolls would have a field day.
 
Bonnie said:
They are going to release video of Uvalde shooting to the public - that is coming, but it isn't going to be showing the crime scene in the classroom.
Only the cowardly cops in the hallway, and the trail of the shooter into the school I believe.
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On the video ... while the cops are cowering in the hallway, one goes over to use a hand sanitizer ... all this while hearing shooting in the background.
UNBELIEVABLE
 
SeniorBen said:
I don't know what good will come from releasing videos of the cowardly cops. Those particular cops are already held in pretty low regard, as are police in general in this day and age with all their "police state" attitudes and conduct. And that low regard will continue until the police return to the "serve and protect" dictum that used to be their creed. It was even written on the side of their police cars.
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The local Sheriff's dept.'s motto is "Dedicated to Your Safety". I've seen that motto modified on a patrol vehicle to read "Dedicated to YOur Safety, by some deputy with a bottle of white-out. :rolleyes:
 
NO Absolutely NO.

A mechanic that worked for me was in Viet Nam in the marine corp. He didn't get along to well with the other mechanics. So I asked him one day why his attitude towards the younger mechanics was of distain.

He said he would explain the next day. He did by showing me photos he managed to bring home from Nam. The photos were of his dead fellow marines with body parts missing. Parts like upper chest & head, whole sides missing from chest to no left or right feet. Whole bottom from waist down. Not black & white but color. I still have those images. He couldn't relate to the mechanics that were never in the military.

He died a few years back. Some employees I keep in contact with sent me his obituary. He had 3 purple cross awards & I suspect that the pics were of men he served with.

Not everyone can handle the vivid sight of death.
 
SeniorBen said:
But then I started thinking that maybe for change to be effected, for politicians to finally take action, perhaps mass trauma is what is necessary. Allow me to condition that on the approval of the victim's family members for the graphic images to be released and no images of their loved ones should be released without their consent. But I suspect that if release of the images could bring about change, they'd embrace the action. It would give the otherwise senseless deaths some meaning.

We've been watching these AR-15 shootings for long enough. Going back to the Aurora theater shooting, or perhaps even further back than that, the AR-15 style rifle has been shown to have no place in civilized society. Maybe mass trauma is what's necessary to bring about change, meaning the banning of that rifle and all similar weapons.
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I agree with you. With the permission of the family, and without the media overwhelming the airwaves with tons of images. Also, the images should be on click to view.

I don't think anyone who hasn't experienced these awful crimes personally can know what they'd say if asked if a photo could be publicized.

I think it would help.
 
SeniorBen said:
I've been thinking about this since I started the thread and after reading everyone's posts, and I almost started to agree that they shouldn't release the graphic images. I agree that it would be traumatic to a lot of people to view the carnage and gore resulting from an AR-15 shooting. Anyone who wasn't traumatized is probably a sociopath.

But then I started thinking that maybe for change to be effected, for politicians to finally take action, perhaps mass trauma is what is necessary. Allow me to condition that on the approval of the victim's family members for the graphic images to be released and no images of their loved ones should be released without their consent. But I suspect that if release of the images could bring about change, they'd embrace the action. It would give the otherwise senseless deaths some meaning.

We've been watching these AR-15 shootings for long enough. Going back to the Aurora theater shooting, or perhaps even further back than that, the AR-15 style rifle has been shown to have no place in civilized society. Maybe mass trauma is what's necessary to bring about change, meaning the banning of that rifle and all similar weapons.
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How would you propose getting rid of the thousands of AR-15's & AK-47's already in possession?
And how would you propose getting rid of the thousands of handguns already in possession by criminals?
 
Perhaps before anyone is allowed to own an AR-15, they should be required to look at images of children who were decapitated and mutilated by AR-15 bullets, much like women in some states are required to view ultrasound images of their fetuses. After viewing the images, they need to think about it for 24 hours before they can actually be a candidate to purchase the rifle.

If, after 24 hours, the applicant still has a desire to own an AR-15, a thorough background check should commence, including psychological evaluation. Should the prospective buyer not feel any trauma from viewing the images, that should be an immediate disqualification. Those who do feel trauma probably will change their minds about wanting to own one. If not, they should be disqualified because of their history of trauma and mental illness.

There, problem solved. :)
 
No...please just make it stop.

When I was a child, my dad had these red colored war books. And, in them were pictures of bodies of the guys killed.
Some had their legs torn off, head wounds, etc. All in black and white.

They were gruesome then, and they'd be gruesome now. No thanks.
 
SeniorBen said:
Perhaps before anyone is allowed to own an AR-15, they should be required to look at images of children who were decapitated and mutilated by AR-15 bullets, much like women in some states are required to view ultrasound images of their fetuses. After viewing the images, they need to think about it for 24 hours before they can actually be a candidate to purchase the rifle.

If, after 24 hours, the applicant still has a desire to own an AR-15, a thorough background check should commence, including psychological evaluation. Should the prospective buyer not feel any trauma from viewing the images, that should be an immediate disqualification. Those who do feel trauma probably will change their minds about wanting to own one. If not, they should be disqualified because of their history of trauma and mental illness.

There, problem solved. :)
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^^^^ ROFLOL.

And before buying a car, we should be required to look at the image of Jayne Mansfield's decapitated body.
Or Princess Dianna's body after her drunk driver killer her.
Or Mary Jo Kopechne after Ted Kennedy caused her to slowly drown.
Before buying or renting a helicopter, we should be required to look at the crash scene photos of Kobe Bryant's helicoper - with 9 mangled & burned bodies. And John Kennedy Jr's plane with the 3 victims in it.
And Paul Walker's Porsche with the two burned bodies.

That should change people's minds about cars, planes, helicopters, etc.
 

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