Blaming the Gun

When a bad guy kills somebody, the Mainstream Media tends to blame the gun.  Especially if it in an AR.  Or Assault Weapon.  They rarely blame the evil triggerman  Somehow the gun is at fault.

It reminds me of 30 years ago, when SUVs were first becoming a 'thing'.  They were popular.  You had the roominess of a full size car from 1955 again!

But when an SUV was involved in a fatal crash or struck a pedestrian the press inevitably blamed the SUV.  "An SUV ran over a little old lady in a crosswalk."  If a Honda Civic killed that little old lady they'd say motorist.  Or maybe find out if the motorist had had a beer, then it would be a Drunk Driver.

Woe betide the Jeep Cherokee driver that clipped a pedestrian after consuming one whole 12 ouce beer.

That characterization of SUVs didn't 'take' as well as blaming an Assault Weapon, but they both came from about the same time in media history.  By my lights.

It's the gun's fault.  Not the killer's fault.

It's only very recently that the other side has been forced to give ground by firearm wielders using their weapon for self defense.  But it's still an uphill PR battle.