Reader questions motivation behind story on ‘female shooters’
After reading, then re-reading “Mother Ready To Carry a Gun,’’ I am still at a loss for why The Greenville News felt that this story (from Waukesha, Wisconsin), was worthy of being published by The News on Jan. 7.
Mostly, I’m trying to understand the point of the story, or what the motivations behind the story are? Who is this story supposed to influence? How does it serve as newsworthy and positive for the greater community?
The main subject is a 25-year-old woman with a 5-year-old and 1-yearold, living in a town, where (per NeighborhoodScout), there’s a 1 in a 1,000 chance of being a crime victim, one of the lowest crime rates in the country for a city of its size. It is deemed “as one of the safest places to live, for its size.’’
She has been unnerved by a couple of secondhand stories of random crimes around her, but also an ongoing dispute with a neighbor.
Her solution to all of this - buy and keep two guns.
I do understand someone being concerned for her family’s safety, and though I believe there are serious holes in her logic, I am not passing judgment on her.
But I am questioning a two-page spread article with a sensationalized title and graphics that mentions a “growing trend” of “female shooters” and gun owners - three times.
The story says it was written as part of a “Nine Month O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism,” described as an organization “reporting stories with the power to compel change.”
What “change” is this article “compelling?”
I’m disappointed that this article smacks more of fearmongering than anything positive, and I question the motivation and influence behind it being written and its subsequent publication.
I hope I’m wrong, but it feels like something that a powerful, influential lobby would be behind, one that promotes more guns as the solution to problems in our society.
If I’m right, I don’t believe that this is the responsible journalism that we in the United States should expect.
Chris Cerasoli
Greenville