High scool students already have a lot to worry about, between college decisions, clubs and classes. We shouldn’t have to worry about being shot too, but many of us do because gun violence is the number one killer of children and teens in the U.S. we all deserve to be safe and working with Project unloaded allows me to feel like i’m part of the much-needed solution.”
Shiven Patel
Under the second amendment of our Constitution, citizens have the right to bear arms. While this makes it legal to own guns, does owning any really help keep people safe? The people behind Project Unloaded believe otherwise. Founded by Executive Director Nina Vinik in 2022 and led by teen and young adult leaders across the United States, the project is a youth-powered organization that focuses on informing today’s youth about facts on gun safety and ownership through various campaigns and reports.
On October 24, 2024, a press release was uploaded to their website compiling data they have collected from the past year involving the portrayal of guns in media—titled “Gun Smoke.” Bay Area high school students Shiven Patel and Esha Ambre compiled most of the data for this year’s report that documents gun usage in the TV shows from major networks like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. They watched and coded three years worth of footage about gun depictions in every show that ran in primetime across the four major networks during the last week of September. Afterwards, they coded the type of show, whether a gun was shown and how the gun was used, whether or not it was fired.
Key aspects of their findings from this report include a stagnation in gun portrayal in 2024 similar to norms set in 2022, despite Hollywood having labor strikes that occurred last year. Thirty-three percent more guns were shown on TV this year, but shows without guns actually won 96% of the time slots and proved more popular than those that featured guns.
“This report highlights a disconnect between what creators are producing and what audiences actually want,” Ambre says about the group’s findings. “Americans see enough gun violence in real life, and many of us are tired of seeing it in our entertainment, too. Seeing guns on TV can impact people’s views on guns and crime in real life and spread these dangerous myths—especially in our generation.” According to Patel, Project Unloaded aims to eventually try collaborating with people working in entertainment regarding how to tell different stories about guns in the future.
Other ongoing Project Unloaded campaigns include SNUG (Safer Not Using Guns), which showcase their findings through social media platforms that youth frequently visit, such as Instagram, Tiktok and Snapchat. Guns Change The Story is another campaign that mixes video footage with mad-lib style storytelling detailing how there are more risks than advantages to owning a gun.
“I found out about Project Unloaded’s work through Tiktok the day after witnessing a shooting in the parking lot of a football game at my high school, and I immediately wanted to get involved,” Patel says. “High school students already have a lot to worry about, between college decisions, clubs and classes. We shouldn’t have to worry about being shot too, but many of us do because gun violence is the number one killer of children and teens in the U.S. We all deserve to be safe, and working with Project Unloaded allows me to feel like I’m part of the much-needed solution.”
Learn more at the official website www.projectunloaded.org. Follow their Instagram and Tiktok @projectunloaded for information about their ongoing SNUG and Guns Change The Story campaigns. Contact the group via email under me***@pr*************.org
