The controversy of gun control has been a topic of discussion for a long time, especially in the wake of school shootings, but people have recently been taking extreme stances on the issue. I have noticed that the news can portray false information on gun control and they use many different tactics to try and support their side of the argument. Ad Populum is one fallacy that reporters use by giving statistics and showing polls that support their argument. When people see that more people support gun control, many will believe that gun control has to be the better option. If a reporter is biased toward not having gun control, then he or she would not show viewers any reason to believe that their should be any type of control. This fallacy twists peoples views, which can lead to people switching opinions based on the opinions of others. While the News should report strict facts without bias, that is not the case and more people should realize that.
Another example of a fallacy in the topic of gun control is called "Slippery Slope." This is when people jump from one event to what they believe to be an inevitable consequence. Many that believe in not having gun control argue that having regulations on guns will then lead to a removal of second amendment rights, or the right to bear arms. This argument jumps to an illogical conclusion that does not have anything backing it up. Even though there is a possibility of totally outlawing guns, this most likely won't be the case.
I posted about fallacies from the liberal side rather than the conservative. It just goes to show that fallacies are present on both sides of the debate
ReplyDeleteLogical Fallacies are all over the media, and it is at its worst when news channels and anchors support only one side of an argument when they should only be reporting on the argument as a whole and leaving the judging to the viewers.
ReplyDelete