Guns Of September

 The New Yorker is a weekly american magazine that consists of journalism, commentary, criticism, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry. The New Yorker is well known for its illustrated and often topical covers and its “gag cartoons'' since publication. The magazine cover that we are going to dissect is called “Guns Of September''. This cover consists of 11 students, all students of different races, genders, and ethnicities. But they all have one thing in common. They all are carrying a gun or firearm of some sort. In the far background, covered by the title of the magazine, you can see students getting off a school bus with firearms.  In the top left corner you can see a mother with a wide smile walking her son towards the school. The boy is wearing a blue jacket and red pants, carrying a gun in one hand and has an extra gun and holster strapped to his thigh. Looking at the cartoon, everyone seems to be wearing the colors of red, green and blue. Except one child. On the right side of the page there is a boy wearing a yellow shirt with a blue collar. His face is quite expressionless, just like 6 other students in the magazine cover. 3 students have happy and cheery faces, big smiles with glowing white teeth and bright red cheeks and one student is faceless. Based on the cover, you can see 7 students carrying a rifle of some sort, 3 students carrying pistols and one student carrying one of each. You can also notice 5 students carrying a bag of some sort, not breaking the color scheme of blue, red, and green. These colors could possibly represent the military, police, and firefighters. With the way this magazine cover is drawn, it looks like something that could be out of a children's book with how cartoonish it looks. I just hope no guns would be in a children's book. Now this magazine was published in September 1993, 12 years after James Brady was shot and wounded by John Hinckey Jr. during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981. Brady pushed for something to be put in place for the purchasing of firearms, and in November of 1993 the Brady Law was signed. This law imposed a 5 day waiting period for background checks for  the purchase of a handgun, mainly pistols. This 5 day waiting period went into effect on February 28, 1994, but then was ruled unconstitutional in court. The Printz vs. US case. Present day, instead of this 5 day waiting period for the purchase of a firearm the United States uses an instant background check system. With this magazine cover, there could be so many different hidden meanings. Some of the main hidden meanings I would like to hit on is the war on guns, but also the lesser of having background checks and laws for firearms. Or it could be the problem of the prices for these firearms, where these firearms are allowed, and the age to buy such things. I am happy that today we now have instant background checks for the purchasing of firearms and not that we just have everyone and anyone walking around with such weapons. Until the next post

-Sarah