A groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health has unveiled a striking correlation between the portrayal of firearm violence in popular entertainment media and the rise in firearm-related homicides among American youth aged 15 to 24. Conducted by researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, the comprehensive analysis implicates increased gun violence depicted in blockbuster movies as mirroring and potentially influencing a disturbing upward trajectory in real-world firearm use for violent purposes among young people over the past two decades.
The researchers meticulously coded over 8,000 five-minute segments drawn from an unbiased half-sample of the top 30 highest-grossing movies annually from 2000 to 2021. These segments were scrutinized for violent content and specifically the presence of firearms wielded as instruments of violence. The findings revealed an alarming tripling—approximately a 200% increase—in the rate of firearm violence within these films during the study period. Meanwhile, primetime broadcast television dramas, focusing mainly on police, crime, and medical genres and sampled across 49 top-rated series, exhibited a 40% rise in gun violence, albeit less pronounced than in cinematic productions.
Crucially, the variation in firearm violence portrayed correlated with national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding firearm-related homicides and suicides among youth. The study’s longitudinal design allowed for annual comparisons between media portrayals and epidemiological data from 2000 to 2021, revealing an unsettling parallel in upward trends. While causality cannot be conclusively established at this aggregate level, the strength and consistency of these associations bolster the proposition that exposure to firearm violence in entertainment media may play a contributory role in shaping youth behavior regarding firearms.
The methodology deployed for coding was rigorous, spanning a diverse array of widely viewed commercial films such as “Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol,” “Deadpool,” “Black Panther,” and “The Matrix Revolutions,” alongside television staples including “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “ER,” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” Coders identified violent scenes, differentiating between the use of guns and other lethal means, enabling the quantification of firearm-specific violence rather than general aggressive content. This granular approach enhances the reliability of the linkage drawn between firearm depiction and youth firearm violence rates.
Interestingly, the study also explored alternative explanations for the increase in firearm homicides, such as the economic hardship following the 2008 financial crisis and rising gun ownership rates. However, neither factor sufficiently accounted for the upward trends observed. Gun purchase data correlated equally with the frequency of firearm violence in movies as it did with homicide rates, while trends in suicide by firearms did not align with media portrayal frequencies. This discrepancy undermines the assumption that increased gun availability alone drives homicide rates in youth, suggesting a more complex interplay involving media influences.
The rise in firearm deaths among young Americans starkly contrasts trends in other high-income nations, where youth mortality rates from homicide and suicide have generally declined. According to a 2024 advisory from former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, firearm-related deaths now outpace fatalities from motor vehicle accidents, cancer, and drug overdoses among U.S. youth. This divergence points to unique cultural, societal, and potentially media-related factors fueling the crisis domestically.
While advertising for firearms is largely absent from mainstream television and digital streaming platforms, guns frequently dominate action sequences in films and certain television genres. Historically, the firearms industry has strategically embedded its products into entertainment content, leveraging “product placement” to normalize and glamorize weapon use. The Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDb) catalogs such appearances, underscoring the ubiquitous nature of firearms in visual storytelling and the potential subconscious impact on impressionable audiences.
Notably, the research team examined firearm portrayal related to suicide, concluding that such imagery was infrequent in both movies and television dramas studied from 2009 onward. This implies that the alarming rise in youth firearm suicides cannot be readily attributed to media representation, highlighting a differentiated media effect on various facets of firearm violence. Co-author Patrick E. Jamieson emphasized that suicide depiction in entertainment is sparse, a potentially protective characteristic given concerns that media modeling can sometimes exacerbate suicidal ideation among vulnerable individuals.
Despite the insights gleaned, the authors caution that their study operates at a national aggregate level and calls for more granular investigation at the individual viewer level to elucidate causative mechanisms and psychological processes underpinning media influence on behavior. Moreover, the observed effects cut across racial lines, with consistent patterns among both white and Black youth, suggesting that gun portrayal in entertainment transcends demographic subgroups and reaches wide audiences in a manner consistent with a promotional effect.
The parallels with past successes in public health offer a roadmap; for instance, substantial reductions in tobacco use portrayed in films and television over recent decades were linked with declines in smoking rates nationally. Romer advocates for similar efforts within the entertainment industry now to address firearm depiction, urging content creators to consider the necessity of firearm use in storytelling and to promote safe firearm storage practices when guns are featured on screen.
This study represents a significant milestone in a broader APPC project focused on cataloging media content capable of influencing youth health behaviors. The Coding of Health and Media Project (CHAMP) and its successor CHAMPION have since the mid-1990s systematically coded portrayals of firearms, alcohol, tobacco, and other health risk factors across thousands of movies and extensive television programming, providing a rich data repository for ongoing research and policy advocacy.
Previous investigations within this framework have linked increased television gun violence with youth firearm deaths between 2000 and 2018 and documented alarming escalations in gun violence in PG-13 rated movies. These earlier findings, combined with the present analysis, underscore a robust and potentially causal relationship between media portrayals and real-world health outcomes. Additionally, the APPC has documented how declines in tobacco visibility align with national reductions in cigarette consumption and have shown that televised violence correlates with heightened public fear of crime, further illustrating media’s pervasive social impact.
Published online on August 13, 2025, in the prestigious Journal of Adolescent Health, this study pioneers a critical discourse on the intersection of entertainment media and public health crises. As firearm violence continues to devastate young communities across the United States, these findings demand urgent reflection and action from filmmakers, television producers, policymakers, and public health stakeholders alike. Only through collaborative, multidisciplinary strategies can the media’s influence be harnessed to stem the tide of firearm violence and protect future generations.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Firearm Violence in Entertainment Media as a Contributor to the Youth Firearm Health Crisis in the United States
News Publication Date: 13-Aug-2025
Web References:
- Annenberg Public Policy Center: https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/
- Journal of Adolescent Health article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2025.06.016
- CDC data referenced in study
- Internet Movie Firearms Database (IMFDb): https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Main_Page
References: - Romer, D., Jamieson, P.E., Hawkins, L., & Jamieson, K.H. (2025). Firearm Violence in Entertainment Media as a Contributor to the Youth Firearm Health Crisis in the United States. Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2025.06.016
- U.S. Surgeon General Advisory, 2024 (Vivek Murthy)
Keywords: firearm violence, youth homicide, entertainment media, movies, television, public health, gun portrayal, adolescent health, media effects, gun violence trends
