Guns rights activist Colion Noir laid out in a video post why the mainstream media should be blamed for inspiring mass shooters, and he called on them to end their attacks on the Second Amendment.
In a NRA-TV video posted on YouTube on Thursday, Noir, a member of the National Rifle Association and host of the NRA web series NOIR, charged that the mainstream news media provided the glory and attention sought by the shooters who carry out horrific crimes.
"These kids aren't inspired by an innate hunk of plastic and metal lying on a table," Noir said. "They are inspired by the infamous glory of past shooters who they relate to. And no entity does a better job, whether directly or indirectly, of glorifying these killers – therefore providing the inspiration for the next one – than our mainstream media."
Noir claimed the mainstream media are often too eager to give every detail of the shooter's background, giving him the attention he craved in the first place. He referred to the most recent mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas where 10 people died on May 18.
"Attention-seeking in this country is at an all-time high," Noir said. "If social media has proven one thing, it's that there are some people out there who will do anything for attention; even if it means slaughtering classmates they hate, but letting the ones they like live, so they can tell their story to every mainstream media outlets who are itching like fiends to be the first to do a deep sea dive into the killer's background."
Noir went on the say, in jest, that Congress should pass "common sense limitation" on the mainstream media's ability to report on these school shootings, echoing language some use in calling for gun control legislation.
"You know that feeling of anxiety that shot through your body when I said the government should pass laws to limit the media's ability to exercise their First Amendment right?" Noir said. "That's the same feeling gun owners get when they hear people say the same thing about the Second Amendment."
Noir said people should be as outrageous with limitations on the Second Amendment as they would be if limitations were placed on the First Amendment.
"I do believe our mainstream media news outlets should hold themselves accountable in the way they cover school shootings," Noir continued. "They should take into account how over-reporting on school shootings inspires other shooters. I honestly believe ignoring school shooters and not giving them any addition will do more to stop school shootings than any gun-control measure ever will.”
"However, I vehemently disagree with the government infringing on the media's First Amendment rights the same way I don't believe the government should infringe on anyone's Second Amendment rights," he added.
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