Hypermediation and Embodiment: Gun Control - "The U.S. Hostage Situation"

Sarah Burgess and Jacob Godwin:

Political cartoons were immediately accessible while looking into the issue of gun control, specifically images that advocate for or against the prohibition of sales of firearms and arguments against pro-gun lobbies (including the N.R.A. and the monetary donations to politicians). We were exposed to both sides of the argument with a simple cursory web search such as "gun control" or "NRA." This gave us insight into how separate groups are approaching rationalizing and processing the same ideas and notions as the events unfold.

What is going on right now in the rhetorical process of coming to terms with gun control and the concepts at play in how groups argue for or against gun control were present in our decisions to include or exclude images in our search. We decided to take a stance that portrays all the sides of gun control, but with the interest of representing pro-gun control activists in a supportive way by identifying the illicit activities of the N.R.A. and their involvement in the public legislation of the United States' democracy.

Because of our interest in upholding principles of nonviolence, it was our desire to align with the rhetoric of persons such as the Parkland shooting survivors and other gun control groups without advocating an extreme or unconstitutional approach to stopping gun violence in the country. We considered how the events happening here in our country affects the global arena of gun control issues and how we are representative of efforts to demilitarize and reduce violence across the world.