Framing Guns: An Exploration of How Guns are Portrayed in Crime Dramas-CANCELLED

• In Event: Crime and Justice in the Popular Media

Abstract

Television crime dramas occupy symbolic space within our cultural understanding of guns and gun policy in society. As such, it is important to understand how gun ownership, gun violence, and gun control are presented in popular media presentations. This study utilizes a content analysis of the depiction of guns on three popular police procedurals to explore the framing of gun ownership, gun violence, and gun policy. The findings will be linked to how viewers may understand and make meaning of the Second Amendment, gun ownership, and gun violence and how the framing of guns and gun issues may inform public perceptions of gun control policy.

Authors

• Sarah Britto, California State University, Dominguez Hills

• Krystal Noga-Styron, Central Washington University