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Since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School just a little over a month ago, the gun control debate has become more heated than ever before – and President Donald Trump has proposed throwing more guns into the mix to help prevent shootings from happening again. This “good guy with a gun” argument may be dominating our current conversation, but The West Wing brilliantly shut it down long before we ever elected a reality TV star president, almost twenty years ago.
In “War Crimes”, the sixth episode of The West Wing‘s third season, we learn that a gunman entered a Texas church and opened fire. And a so-called good guy with a gun returned fire, in an effort to stop him. Despite his best intentions, this good guy wound up shooting an 9-year-old girl in the process, inflicting wounds that she eventually dies from. During her press briefing, C.J. (Allison Janney) makes clear that both guns were legally owned. The debate about the NRA between President Bartlet and Vice President Hoynes that takes places later also speaks to another line we hear a lot nowadays (gun control advocates politicize tragedy), but the message here is clear.
Without ever explicitly hitting us over the head with it, the event on its own – the shooting that left a little girl dead – destroys any argument for arming teachers or other “good guys”. Without the good guy with a gun, this bystander wouldn’t be dead. More guns equals more violence, no matter whose hands they’re in. Increasing the number of guns increases the chances that more individuals will be caught in the crossfire. It’s an undeniably realistic scenario, a cautionary tale of sorts. And it’s just one smart, succinct illustration of this point that The West Wing made over its seven seasons.
“War Crimes” is far from the only time that The West Wing addressed gun control and the devastating effects of gun violence. In the first season episode “Five Votes Down”, the Bartlet administration fights for a relatively mild gun control law – one that will see certain assault rifles banned – but struggles to get it passed. The debate hits home for the administration at the end of Season 1 when there is an assassination attempt on President Bartlet’s life. White House Communications Director Toby sums it up best in Season 2 episode “President Bartlet’s State of the Union” when he argues for stronger gun control laws:
“I do know that if you combine the populations of Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Australia you’ve got a population roughly the size of the United States. We had 32,000 gun deaths last year and they had 112. Do you think it’s because Americans are more homicidal by nature? Or do you think it’s because those guys have gun control laws?”
Time and time again, today’s discourse is echoed in these episodes that broadcast nearly two decades ago. This isn’t to say Aaron Sorkin is a psychic; it just speaks to how little has changed, how little we’ve learned, and how little people are willing to listen. The West Wing may be almost twenty years old, but our current state of affairs will undoubtedly continue to mirror the show’s events. At this point, it’s hard not to wonder – if The West Wing can nail the gun control argument, why can’t our government?
