I've often wondered about this kind of thing in the past. It always seemed that whenever there was some important firearms/self-defence issue in the mix, so to speak, there would be these rashes of nuts with guns in the news.

I never knew if there was just a regular rate of nuts with guns and the the news reporting just turned that spigot on, or if there was some other thing going on.

It is the case that the "media" has an inordinate amount of control over the thoughts and ideations of the public. After all, most folks don't know what they aren't told. The media is the self-appointed "teller" of what's important, how it's told can shape the subconscious opinion....

I say 'yes', but it's not a sinister conspiracy thing.

Remember 'The Summer Of The Shark', when it seemed like everyone who even stuck a toe in the ocean on the East Coast got it chomped off? Shark attacks were actually *down* that summer but one in the spring caught the MSM's attention so...

Basically I see it as:

1) Firearms releated issue rises up to the point where they *have* to cover it.
2) Newly sensitized to the words 'firearm' and 'gun', plus seeing all the other papers using those words, they start noticing the otherwise routine / filler pieces in their own pile o' news.
3) Wanting to be one of the cool kids, they hype up these stories.
4) All the other papers see these stories and (go to Step 2)
5) Eventually some 'starlet' gets upset with the lack of attention and starts waving body parts around. The MSM turn to look at her and loose their focus on the prior issue.

Sounds like the MSM suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, as well as Bush Derrangement Syndrome.

Does this mean the MSM would be prohibited from owning guns?

As is a rule of the liberal left-wing news media IF IT BLEEDS IT LEADS they are always doing this and in several cases not mentioning when such blood baths were stopped becuase someone had a gun but these left-wing journalists will never mention this