Carpio1

Chelsie Carpio
Professor Moore
English 1301-01
25 November 2018

Moms Demand Action

The advertisement from Moms Demand Action shows two elementary students, one

holing a banned book of The Little Red Riding Hood while the other holds an automatic weapon.

The book Little Red Riding Hood began as a fairy tale short story by the Brothers Grimm, dating

back to the tenth century the book explains a story of a girl making a trip to see her sick

grandmother and encountering the “big bad wolf”. The book was banned in 1990 “occurring in

just two California school districts” after a newly published edition was made by Trina Schart

Hyman. With a cover page of riding hood carrying a basket with a wine bottle. Mothers and

school districts have banned this book for years and have also taken measures in insuring

children are safe inside of their schools. Mass shootings and murders have made security

precautions in schools more defensive as “27 percent of the nation population” ban automatic

weapons leaving parts of the nation vulnerable. Automatic weapons, the background, and the

book The Little Red Riding Hood in the Moms Demands Action photograph shock viewers when

deciding what should really be banned to keep American children safe.

Placing a automatic weapon in a child's hand catches the audience attention when first

looking at the photograph. Parents and adults are not used to seeing an adolescent child with an

automatic weapon in their hands, and when they do it is in the most horrific and shocking state of

mind to be in. Many citizens want to see gun control on a more strict and governed level and

others will like to have the power to protect themselves when needed making it impossible for a

balanced decision. Like Geoff West said in Gun Rights VS Gun Control “The issue of how to
 Carpio2

strike a balance between gun rights and public safety has been a political hot potato for years”

(West). Deciding what is best for our country has never been easy for the government, many of

the citizens would prefer to see gun control better handled and stricter in order to save lives.

Over the year's countless acts of malicious and careless acts of violence have terrorized

American citizens. Shootings in Las Vegas on October 2017 “which killed 58 concertgoers” and

mass murders in schools like Santa Fe, Texas and churches in Parkland, Florida and other fatal

killings that have left American citizens traumatized (West). Taking precautions to protect their

children, parents are pleading to ban automatic weaponry that is originally made to keep

Americans safe. Asking the viewer to guess which object is banned in American to protect them

states a trick question. The Little Red Riding Hood was banned in order to protect the morals of

children while Automatic weapons were made to protect Americans yet banned to save lives.

The Little Red Riding Hood is known in several versions, the same story with a focal

point of a little girl making a trip to see her sick grandmother when both are deceived and eaten

by the “big bad wolf”. The first version of the book was a short story written by the Grimm's

Brothers who were writers of many popular fairy tales that have gruesome endings but life lesson

meanings. This rendition of the Little Red Riding Hood further teaches children a life lesson to

never talk to strangers and to listen to what your mother says. Turning the short story into a book

by adding animated pictures that illustrate the events that happen in the original draft. The book

that the little girl on the left is holding in the photograph is a book that has been modernized by

Trina Schart Hyman published in 1987. A book that was banned because of the wine bottle

shown in the picture of the title page, this moderation of the book scared mothers to think that

because a wine bottle was in the title page it is going to ruin the morals of their child. Being

banned in two states in the United states the little red riding hood is not the focal point of this

photograph. In comparison to others, mothers have taken their opinions into account and have
 Carpio3

expressed their sentiments of gun control. With other books that are banned that have not caused

a loss of life, the reason of the photograph is for viewers and authorities to taken gun control into

account and start placing it at a higher priority than banned books. Louis Jacobson asks a

question in Moms Demand Action photo “one child is holding something that’s been banned in

America to protect them, guess which one”. By asking the viewer to guess which one is more

harmful to a child, a military rifle or a banned book further expresses the sensitivity of a child

holding an automatic weapon and by placing the children in a school library makes the

photograph more sensitive and serious due to the color of the photograph and the facial

expressions of the children that make the visual so curt.

By trying to express the severity of gun violence Jacobson's question to the audience also

exhibits that military rifles are used to protect Americans but are used in a violent way that have

taken lives. By also adding the little red riding hood into the photograph Jacobson wanted to add

another controversial topic that parents are engaged in. The Little Red Riding Hood is one of

many books that have been banned for their storylines that are censored due to use of

inappropriate behavior. The point that Jacobson makes in the photograph is an activism of gun

control that will open the eyes of proper authorities to ban military rifles. In hope that the

banning of military rifles will help save lives in the future.

 Carpio4

Works Cited

Jacobson, Louis. “Moms Demand Action Says 'Little Red Riding Hood' Has Been Banned, but

Assault Weapons Haven't.” @Politifact, 2013, www.politifact.com/truth-o-

meter/statements/2013/aug/27/moms-demand-action-gun-sense-america/moms-demand-

action-says-little-red-riding-hood-has/.

Cicilline, and David. “H.R.5087 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Assault Weapons Ban of 2018.”

Congress.gov, 20 Mar. 2018, www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5087.

West, Geoff. “Gun Rights vs Gun Control.” OpenSecrets,

2018,www.opensecrets.org/news/issues/guns.
Carpio5
Carpio6