As the Crime Prevention Research Center has pointed out many times, television crime shows seem to think criminals are constantly using machine guns to commit crime. This episode of CBS’s NCIS LA (Season 12, Episode 8, January 10, 2021) has an agent warn: “those are AR-15s.” The gun then fires like a machine gun.
In real life, criminals generally use machine guns so rarely that a 2016 survey of prison inmates only broke down the numbers for uses in crime of handguns (11.2%), rifles (0.8%), and shotguns (1.1%). There are few rifles, and the survey did not even mention fully automatic weapons. Since 1934, there was only one possible known use ever of a civilian using a machine gun in a murder. And even before 1934, they were very rare.
Here is a video on Hollywood’s bias against guns.
More information available here.
So far this season we have these shows with criminals using machine guns:
CBS’s Bull (Season 5): E6, January 18 2021
CBS’s FBI Most Wanted (Season 2): E4 January 19, 2021, E5 January 26, 2021.
CBS’ Coyote (Season 1): E2 January 7, 2021 and E5 January 7, 2021
CBS’ SWAT (Season 4): E7 Jan 13, 2021, E8 January 27, 2021
CBS Magnum PI (Season 3): E3 Dec 11 2020; Episode 7, February 5, 2021
CBS The FBI (Season 3): E1 Nov 17 2020, E4 Jan 24, 2021
CBS’s NCIS LA (Season 12): Episode 8, January 10, 2021
In last years’ season (2019-2020), we haven’t been keeping close track, but other recent examples include:
CBS’ SWAT (Season 3): E11 January 15, 2020; E21 May 20, 2020
In last years’ season (2019-2020), we haven’t been keeping close track, but other recent examples include:
CBS’ SWAT (Season 3): E11 January 15, 2020; E21 May 20, 2020
CBS’ FBI (Season 2): E12 January 14, 2020; Episode 18, March 24, 2020
Fox’s Deputy (Season 1): E1 January 2, 2020
FBI: Most Wanted (Season 1): Episode 4, January 28, 2020; Episode 6, February 18, 2020, Episode 9, March 24, 2020
Chicago PD (Season 7): Episode 10 January 8, 2020; Episode 16, March 4, 2020; Season 7, Episode 17, March 18, 2020; Episode 20, April 15 2020
Hawaii Five-O, Season 10, Episode 18, February 28, 2020; Episode 20, March 13, 2020; Episode 21, March 27, 2020
Magnum PI, Season 2, Episode 18, May 1, 2020
Blue Bloods, Season 10, Episode 19, May 1, 2020
The Blacklist, Season 7, Episode 18, May 8, 2020
Here is a list of shows from the 2018-19 television season that showed criminals using machine guns.
The Rookie (Season1): E2, E4, E9, E17, E20
Magnum PI (Season 1): E1, E15
Chicago P.D. (Season 6): E14
Other examples of television media bias on this particular point can be found here.
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