T.V. does, indeed, rot people's brains.
In nearly 100% of all movies or T.V. shows, the use of a firearm is portrayed in one of only two ways:
1) The police have them to fight bad guys.
2) The bad guys have them to fight police.
Now, after decades of this polarized duality, the common perception is that firearms are good for police, yet bad for anyone else because firearms only fall into these two categories. There is an almost COMPLETE FAILURE by Hollywood to address any of the numerous other uses of firearms or categories of firearms ownership.
It's obvious. When was the last time you saw a law abiding civilian with a firearm on any show or in any movie?
How can the general population become comfortable with firearms and their lawful use when the only people seen in the media fall into two extremely narrow categories?
Do you honestly believe there are more police than CCW holders in any given city? For Missouri alone, there have been tens of thousands of CCW's issued since the inception of Missouri's permit system. Do you honestly think there are more cops on the streets of St. Louis than there are plain civilians who are lawfully carrying? I'd personally guess the cops are outnumbered by legally armed citizens by at least 2 to 1, if not more. (I base this on the simple fact that the local range is booked solid for their weekly CCW classes for the forseeable future, and has been for as long as I can remember. I'm unaware of any police academy cranking out cops at such a rate. And I'm only looking at one range. I wonder how others across the state are faring?)
Yet, why can I find no less than three cop shows on T.V. at this very instant, and every single one have firearms being used in only two ways: police or bad guys? Why is there absolutely no portrayal of legally armed citizens on any of them when in reality, both of these categories are a minority?
Because the general population is being lied to. It's called "lying by ommission".