John Mellencamp Calls for More Graphic Depictions of Gun Violence in Media: “Show the Carnage on the News”

John Mellencamp is asking the media to show more graphic depictions of gun violence to encourage more awareness and change around gun laws, following the recent mass shooting on Wednesday, February 14 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The shooting, following a Super Bowl LVIII victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs, resulted in the death of one person and 22 injured, including 11 children.

“Excuse me for stating the obvious truth,” wrote Mellencamp in a statement posted on his official website and social media accounts. “I do so out of love for this country and the pain of learning once again, that children have been killed by gun violence. “

He continued, “If we as a country want to find the collective will within ourselves to change our gun laws, let’s stop playing silly political games. Show the carnage on the news. Show the American people, the dead children, and others who have been struck down. Show us what guns and bullets can do to the human body.”

The remainder of Mellencamp’s full statement reads:

The news media need to be brave enough to let Americans see what slaughtered children look like. Otherwise, I feel that too many perceive gun violence as an abstract; a story that’s repeated nearly every day to numbing effect.

When I was a teenager there was a war in Vietnam. In the beginning, no one paid much attention to this problem in a foreign land until the media shouldered the responsibility and showed America how our songs were being slaughtered. Once those images were shown on TV, there was overwhelming demand for that war to be ended immediately.

I saw this as a father and a human being with deep empathy for the parents whose children have had their lives ended so suddenly and so senselessly: Show America the carnage.

I am not being callous, and I know it will be painful to see. But sad to say, I think it’s the only way to shock America out of its stupor.

Mellencamp has been outspoken about the lack of legislation combatting gun violence. In 2023, Mellencamp released the song “Hey God” as a call to action on his 25th album, Orpheus Descending.

“Hey God” is a letter asking God to come down and stop the violence: Weapons and guns, are they really my rights? / Laws written a long time ago / No one could imagine the sight / Of so many dead on the floor / Hey God, if you’re still there / Would you please come down?

Following Mellencamp’s 2022 album Strictly a One-Eyed Jack, the 11-track Orpheus Descending is a collection of personal and political reflections, and features Bruce Springsteen on the moving “Perfect World.”

Talking to Bill Maher in 2023, Mellencamp called for a change to the Second Amendment and repeated a similar sentiment of showing the results of gun violence in media as a way to move from “thoughts and prayers” to real action. “A good place to start is to get these f–king guns away from people,” said Mellencamp. “It’s an amendment—change it.”

In 2024, alone, there have been more than 49 mass shootings, according to Gun Violence Archive, and nearly 5,000 people have died in the U.S. as a result of gun violence.

Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for SeriousFun Children’s Network