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Weapons and Image

Image is everything someone has said. If you do not believe it, watch a candidate for office as he meets with a group of business people or for a debate dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and red tie. Watch the same candidate as he meets with occupants of a nursing home or a group of farmers and note the difference in the candidate’s attire. This is not a sexist observation because equivalent dress codes also exist for female candidates. Not long ago, as this is being written, a news report from the TV station in a city nearby gave the story of a homicide. As the announcer was talking, the graphic on the screen showed a handgun, the word “murder” and the outline of a body. You have probably seen such things before. However, in this instance, the victim had been stabbed to death! The desired connotation had nonetheless been conveyed to the viewers as they heard about a murder.

Let us look at one instance of how statistics and image are used in relation to reporting data regarding shooting sports. A recent study reported that an “estimated 21,840 injuries” resulting from nonpowder guns (air rifles, paintball pistols, and BB guns) were treated in the year 2000. That estimate may or may not be accurate, but the implication is that the number is known because it is not given as “over 20,000” which would clearly show that it is an estimate. As bad as the use of the use of the word “estimated” is, there was another factor in the report that was even worse. In the lead paragraph of the report was the phrase “…undermining the notion that such weapons are harmless…” Did you ever hear a baseball announcer say, “Jones dropped his weapon and headed for first base” during a baseball game? Is a baseball bat a weapon? Absolutely, if it is used as a weapon. What about a golf announcer making the statement, “Jones had a good swing with the weapon.” Is a golf club a weapon? Absolutely, if it is used as a weapon. If you think these are absurd examples, what about watching a TV show on cooking only to hear the chef say, “Slice the cold dessert with a warm-bladed weapon.” In this book, the only time the author will use the word “weapon” is in Chapter 11, which deals with some aspects of self-defense. It is true that the same shotgun that is used when hunting quail or 22 rifle used to hunt squirrels can be used as a weapon, but it is the use that determines what is a weapon. The person who “rode shotgun” on a stage coache had a short-barreled shotgun known as a coach gun that was indeed a weapon.