Here is the blog about the article including picture
Toronto Sun a Little Trigger-Happy
I rarely buy the Toronto Sun newspaper, but I just had to get it last week, after seeing what was displayed on the front page. I actually did a double-take, walked back to the vending machine, and got myself a copy. It was really more out of morbid fascination that they would actually depict such a story on the front cover rather than my own keen interest in the article itself.
In typical thick large-scale font, the front page of March 14th’s Toronto Sun showed a large picture of a Toronto Sun - March 14, 2008 - Front Page [click to get larger image]fearsome-looking handgun under which was written, “Crime’s New Mr. Big - Meet The Judge, a handgun that fires 5 shotgun shells. It’s the new status symbol for bad guys - and police fear it’s headed for Toronto”. Although the paper has its reputation, I was surprised that they would still actually provide such prominent public advertising for the Taurus gun company. Given our country’s high literacy rate (regardless of economic background), and the large number of Sun vending machines at street-level in Toronto, I’m sure that those individuals who never heard of ‘The Judge’ were helpfully put in the know by this bombastic front page story (and for $1 per paper, could purchase it and learn more). According to the headline, for certain ne’er-do-wells trying to look cool, this firearm could be something to add to the shopping list.
But then, as one reads the actual article (also found here, by Sun Media writer Don Peat) about this shotgun-shell-launching pistol, it appears that it wasn’t just about educating local gang members (even while ironically writing, “Canadian police weren’t keen on drawing attention to the weapon”), but also to incite a bit of fear in the populace (didn’t I just write about this media practice?). It goes on to say several times that Toronto’s police force have not yet seen this gun on the streets, but are watching and concerned about it (in “fear” about it, apparently, based on the front page), as well as any other gun. I also learned at this astute blog (concerning the very same Sun article) that The Judge has been around for four years in the U.S. The question then becomes, why exactly has this become an issue now?
As a brief letter to the editor pointed out in the following issue (along with a snide retort from the editor himself), this piece was likely sitting around the Sun waiting for a slow news day. I definitely feel more informed about things, including the issue of journalistic ethics.
