Running head: THE FIRST SHOTS 1

The First Shots

Nicole Long

Arizona State University

THE FIRST SHOTS 2

Abstract

This essay analyzes the Moms Demand Action advocacy ad that aided in creating the movement

to strengthen gun control in America after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2014. The

moms impacted the movement by creating and releasing advertisements that shocked viewers

and manufactured thought as to how important the cause is to them.

Keywords: gun control, school, campaign, ad, children

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The First Shots

The cold and dull day of December 14, 2012, was supposed to be like any other

Connecticut day, but when the first shots rang the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary people knew

things were about to change. A day after, moms across the nation arose and began their

campaign as Moms Demand Action to help defend their children from guns in their schools. A

year later they would release their first campaign ad, pictures of children holding the same

assault weapon that had caused the first of many school shootings in America. The Moms

Demand Action advocacy ad utilizes elements of controversy, appeal to setting, and proximity to

self to create an impact on American gun control.

This ad, in particular, was the first one shown to the public. The first thing that captures

the viewer's eye in this ad campaign would be the innocent-looking girl on the right holding an

assault rifle. Next to her is another girl, but instead she is holding a banned school book, Little

Red Riding Hood. Both of them with a calm and ordinary look, neither of them look shocked or

disgusted by either item being held. Their normality sits eerily with viewers, these children are

being put in a situation in which they should be reacting and yet they are not. Centered above

them is a text reading “One child is holding something that's been banned in America to protect

them,” and right below that in red is “Guess which one,” both insinuating thoughts about what is

pictured below. The ads shown do not include any bolded text around it, but the message is seen

clear enough with what the corresponding scene below is trying to insinuate. There is more

information tucked in the corner below but not bolded in any way, disregarding the importance

to what is above. As time went on school shootings have become more normalized, so the shock

factor that they initially applied in the ads is no longer there. Gun violence in schools is just

another week, most news coverage of these events do not make it national anymore. With 82
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school shootings in America last year alone, according to Campus Safety Magazine, that makes

2018 the highest rate for school shootings there has ever been since 1970; so these events are not

as shocking as they used to be without the consistent coverage they should be receiving.

Even though this ad came out back in 2014, the campaign has remained relevant and

maybe even more relevant now than before. When the campaign first appeared, their mission

was just aimed towards student safety but soon gained momentum and counterparts like Mayors

Against Illegal Guns, Students Demand Action and the Everytown Survivor Network soon

joined beside them. The aim

towards students and children

was appropriate at first because

of its proximity to the Sandy

Hook Elementary shooting, but

now the meaning of the ad has

dwindled because of the

normality of shootings. Now

with shootings becoming more popular, a branch of advocacy that fits with a specific faction of

people makes the movement stronger. A picture of two young girls with radically different items

with the same controversy is what makes this ad so memorable among the people, making want

to join the movement and help with their goal.

These two girls are sitting on the floor of an empty school library with a dull light

surrounding them. The lighting around them is dulled down and the entire picture is desaturated.

It is not unknown that schools had begun banning certain children’s books in schools since the

early 2010s for “graphic and inappropriate content”, so the fair use of using a banned book
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makes sense to strengthen their campaign. At first look, the viewer can take guess that either the

weapon or the book has to be banned based on the word choice of the ad. A smaller text tucked

in the bottom corner of the ad goes into detail about the items being held, and gives the viewer an

answer to their thoughts brought up from the bold statements above: that the book on the left is

the banned item. In most schools across America, Little Red Riding Hood is banned because of

the wine in her basket, and that is not the only book banned because of similar reasons. Many

other childhood classics read in schools-- like To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye and

tens of others-- are not available to current students anymore because of their use of so-called

adult content. The use of a, considered, childhood classic book can relate to many viewers as to

their own experience and opinions on the book and the banishment of it. Putting these girls in a

library corresponds with the use of the banned book, and if anything strengthens their argument

with implications that the pictured library could be filled with other banned books as well.

The small statement hidden at the bottom of the ad states,“Why not assault weapons?,”

adding to the logic of their reasoning, creating an even deeper meaning to the ad then originally

before. This ad campaign they launched however did gain momentum. It could be because of the

timeliness, the Sandy Hook shooting was just 2 years before, or it could be because people who

viewed this ad actually cared and wanted to make a change. The image of an innocent girl calmly

holding an assault weapon can not sit well with the targets of this ad, people with children or

even older children themselves, considering that children are meant to be kept safely away from

guns.

On the Moms Demand Action website there are countless stories from moms across the

nation stating their personal stories surrounding gun violence stories dating back to before the

organization was founded in 2009, to recent ones written this year. Their website includes facts,
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opinions and their ideas on how to further protect children from guns all beginning with the facts

of December 14. Through the statistics scattered throughout the website, their evidence is clearly

supported, only strengthening the cause, but in real life their fighting has gone under the radar,

something that they do not see as a bad thing. Maybe back in 2014 their name was more

prominently well known but because of the children running March for Our Lives, they have

been tossed aside and forgotten. They might have paved the way for more recent and active

groups, but their involvement is not noticed. Their action is within their own group causing them

to be overshadowed by the

prominent kids leading the same

campaign with more fire and

power.

Although Moms Demand

Action was the first movement

created, their work and dedication

was cast aside by the younger

generation, but when those first shots rang they knew that action had to be taken regardless of

their success. The kids of today have taken control of their campaigns but with richer power and

strive. Their advocacy ads might have taken a toll during the time of their release but as time

went on and normality set in, there was no shock factor left to rest on. Overall, Moms Demand

Action helped turn a solemn Connecticut day into something to fight for and something that has

launched from thousands to millions whether or not it was their plan or not.
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References

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://momsdemandaction.org/

Staff, C. (2019, January 23). The K-12 School Shooting Statistics Everyone Should

Know. Retrieved from https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/safety/k-12-school-shooting-

statistics-everyone-should-know/