ABSTRACT

This chapter presents how gun rights/gun control lobbyists and politicians use the Internet and social media. The Facebook pages of leading advocacy organizations (i.e., the National Rifle Association, the Gun Owners of America, and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence) are described, and their blogs are compared on topics covered, word usage, and tone. Tweets by the 2016 Presidential candidates are compared in response to a mass shooting (e.g., who uses vs. avoids using the word “guns”). Finally, data gathered through interviews with gun rights and gun control advocates are presented, including how they use the Internet and social media, and whether they believe that the fight over gun rights vs. gun control has changed in the online era.