Police Publicity Replaces News

Reporters: If the police didn't send us a "news" release,
we'd have to write something for ourselves.

Jan. 4, 2012

Dear Editor (sent statewide),


It's that time of year again -- around New Year's Eve and the 4th of July -- when we get the Shannon's law story. "Reporters" read and print the same police department press release they have read and printed for the past decade, pretending it's news. [Note for readers: Shannon was the unfortunate young girl who was killed by a stray bullet from an unknown or undisclosed source. The legislature enacted a law (we already had two) outlawing random gunfire because they had to "do" something, and it is now a redundant "news" story.]

One talking head on Channel 10 said Shannon was killed on New Year's Eve in 1999. It was June 14, which makes the "celebratory" gunfire angle pretty shaky, though it does fit the narrative better.

We're told the shot came from "a mile away," which means the gun was pointed more horizontally than vertically, but why speculate? The wound would reflect the trajectory, but news reports said she was hit in the top of the head. That requires a more vertical shot, making the "mile away" story manufactured rubbish. Which is it? What about the recovered round? Good reporters want to know.

I recall somebody saying there have been some outrageous/malicious prosecutions under Shannon's law. In several cases, homeowners who self-reported unintentional gunshots with no harm done, were summarily arrested and charged with Shannon felonies -- dial 911 and fry. Some skeptics said that was the law's real (and nefarious) purpose from the get go, giving prosecutors more power, using a grieving family's tragedy for political capital.

After all, you don't need a law for reporters to periodically tell the public not to be idiots, right? And shooting wildly into the air already was (and still is) a felony under other laws. The oft made argument that the courts wouldn't enforce the other laws means fix the courts, not pass another fool law, at least if you're intelligent.

What a wonderful exercise of the free press, if possibly innocent victims of this controversial law were interviewed, and the true effects of this publicity program were explored. Unless, of course, if it harms the narrative.

Sincerely yours,
Felicity Bower

Bloomfield Press
"We publish the gun laws."
4848 E. Cactus, #505-440
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
602-996-4020 Phone
602-494-0679 Fax
1-800-707-4020 Orders
http://www.gunlaws.com
info@gunlaws.com

[Not a single response was received from the "news" media. Friends, customers and fans sent a flood of supportive comments.]



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