THREE NEWTON’S GO UNCOVERED EACH DAY: CAN COMMUNICATORS BRING CHANGE? (click this headline to see video)
DOUG SIMON, President & CEO of D S SIMON PRODUCTIONS, wonders what those in the communication space can do to address the issue of gun violence.
The horrors of the slaughter of innocent children and school personnel have understandably shocked the senses and called out for policy changes to address gun violence.
I think there is a need for those of us in the communication space to do more to address this issue.
While a murderous rampage on this scale is thankfully rare, there is the equivalent of three slow motion Newtown’s in the United States every day.
According to the CDC, there are more than 85 gun deaths a day in this country.
Of those, 31 a day are gun homicides. The rest, a mix of accidents, suicides and other causes.
Sadly, this isn’t a story.
You might not know that two police officers were shot this week in Tulsa.
It’s simply not a story any more unless the scale or the victims demand our attention. Those of us in communications need to get involved.
We should reach out to our media contacts and make sure they report on a national level the toll gun violence, often related to mental health issues or emotional distress, takes on our people. Do we even remember the name of the women shot by the Kansas City Chiefs’ player after learning he might not have been the Father of her child?
It will take some changes to the gun laws (reinstituting the assault weapon ban and limiting purchases of specific types of ammunition is a start), greater mental health awareness of when someone going off the rails has access to guns, and more responsible gun ownership and better education to keep guns secure.
But if we as communicators can create awareness of three Newtown’s a day perhaps we can drive political and social change to the point where 30,000 Americans don’t have to die each year from gun violence.
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