What is Public Memory

This chapter focuses on the case study of the Las Vegas mass shooting. Utilizing analyses of news media content and results from interviews with gun violence prevention (GVP) advocates, it explores the policy debates occurring after this shooting. Findings indicate that within the news media coverage the two main targets for policy change were bump stock devices and assault weapons. Bump stock devices had a direct link to the shooting and ended up banned; however, there are some issues with the way this measure was passed. There was also no traction on renewing the assault weapons ban. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the news media coverage was shown to adopt a defeatist tone indicating that no policy reform was expected to take place, citing a lack of action after previous incidents and the current political landscape as the reasons why nothing would happen.