Never underestimate the power of a photograph to influence change in society. The image of a dead student at Kent State. The photo of young Kim Phuc Phan Thi — all of 9 years old — running naked after a naplam attack. Emmitt Till, lying in his casket, the victim of torture in the deep South. Photos of Holocaust victims showing the true evil of Nazis. And video of the January 6th insurrection where Trump supporters beat police officers brutally in an attempt to overthrow the government continue to make everyday Americans realize how fragile our democracy really is.
The shooting at an outlet mall near Dallas, where the body county included at least three small children, has really gotten to me. A first responder feeling for a pulse on a little girl turned her over to discover “she had no face.” That’s just a bridge too far.
In the days, weeks, months and years after Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, the anti-abortion crowd would often protest outside of abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood offices with signs showing graphic images of, what they said was, an aborted fetus. I remember highway billboards with similar images. They were effective in showing the aftermath of abortions.
Perhaps it’s time to start showing graphic images of the victims of these mass shootings, particularly of children. It’s time for Americans to confront what a bullet fired by an AR-15 does to a human being’s body and to children in particular. This is distasteful. But as a society we are becoming desensitized to gun violence. Elected officials in the back pockets of the NRA always offer thoughts and prayers. They adhere to the Second Amendment rights while not acknowledging the words “well-regulated.” Often times, the guns used to massacre people are purchased legally but any intrusion on the ability to restrict gun purchases are met with condemnation from the NRA and political leaders who rely on the gun lobby.
The most recent shootings are far too raw to consider. The permission of families must be sought and any image that isn’t 100% approved by the families shouldn’t be used. But it’s time for the families of the victims of Sandy Hook, Parkland, Buffalo, Uvalde, and El Paso to consider agreeing to have graphic images of gun violence displayed for everyone to see.
Someone needs to take a lead here. Someone needs to approach families of gun violence and ask permission to share devastating photos of violence against their son, daughter, father, mother, friend. The news media needs to develop policies that permit these images to be published or broadcast. These images need to go in front of Senators Mitt Romney and Ted Cruz, in front of Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Lauren Boebert, and Michelle Steel and Congressional candidate Scott Baugh.
It’s time for Americans to see what bullets do to a human body. It’s time to see the damage these weapons cause. And it’s high time to turn the gun lobby on its head and confront the violence it enables in this country.