This spring, mass shooting debates heated up once more following the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which took place only 10 days after a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. Online, some began calling for the release of graphic mass shooting images, believing the devastation would force lawmakers into action. Experts, however, don’t seem to agree with that analysis.
These conversations aren’t new. After the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, the families of victims debated whether releasing graphic images would be useful. Lenny Pozner, whose 6-year-old son, Noah, died at Sandy Hook Elementary School, thought about showing what the shooter’s AR-15-style rifle had done to his son’s body. The New York Times wrote: “His first thought: ‘It would move some people, change some minds.’ His second: ‘Not my kid.’”
