The controversial subject of gun control is currently a hot-button issue in this country. The news has been saturated with shootings and other frightening incidents of gun violence. Now the general public is taking a closer look at how gun violence in depicted in our entertainment.
nytimes.com writes that a new study that is to be published in the December issue of a medical journal known as Pediatrics says that gun violence in PG-13 movies has increased so greatly that it even surpasses the amount of gun violence in R-rated movies. The article also states that the researchers had looked at 945 films as part of the study and the authors of the study concluded that moments of gun violence in PG-13 films has been rising since the rating's inception back in the mid-80s.hollywoodreporter.com explained that according to the MPAA, PG-13 movies are supposed to be less violence than those rated R. Furthermore, they reported that the rise of gun violence in films made for younger audiences is especially disturbing because of a principle known as the "weapons effect", which is the idea that the simple presence of a gun can cause people to behave more violently.